No spring break for Alexandria students in 2012

Talk about it

With a committee of two parents, six teachers, two principals and two administrators, the calendars for the next two school years were set.

And on Monday night, Alexandria School District 206 board members approved the calendars.

Judy Backhaus, director of human resources for District 206, updated the board and administrators on the planning criteria that goes into developing the calendar.

She noted that the committee takes into consideration many different variables, including feedback it receives from a parent survey.

One question on the survey deals with the issue of spring break. Backhaus said some parents like it and others don’t. At the elementary school level (grades K-6), 58 percent of parents responded that they didn’t like the week-long spring break, while 42 percent said they did.

The committee decided to drop spring break from the 2011-2012 calendar.

Backhaus noted that it is hard to please everyone but the committee does its best. She said the schedule the committee put together for the next two school years “looked like the best calendars.”

For parents who like to plan ahead of time, here’s a peek at what the next two school years will look like:

The 2010-2011 school year

School this fall will begin on Tuesday, September 7. The last day of school will be June 8, 2011.

Dates when there will be no school for all students are as follows – October 21-22; November 5; November 24-26; December 24-31; January 17; February 21; March 14-18; April 22, April 25; and May 30.

Keep in mind there are also three planned two-hour late starts, which are used for staff training or collaboration. They are on September 29, February 2 and March 23.

The 2011-2012 school year

School in September 2011 will begin on Tuesday, September 6. The last day of school will be June 5, 2012.

Dates when there will be no school for all students during the 2011-2012 school year are as follows: October 20-21; November 4; November 23-25; December 22-January 2; January 16; February 20; March 16; April 5-6; April 9; and May 28. (There is not a week-long spring break built into the 2011-2012 calendar.)

There are three planned two-hour late starts for this school year also, which will be September 28, February 1 and April 25.

Printable versions of these two school calendars are available on the District 206 website at www.alexandria.k12.mn.us. On the district’s homepage, look under “site shortcuts” and click on the “school calendars” link.

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