By Chris Marczak

It’s that time of year again: the time to vote for school calendars for the 2015-16 school year. As we move into this time of change, there are two calendars that are being proposed for the Oak Ridge School system.

The two calendars being proposed are called a traditional calendar and a balanced calendar. Both of these proposed calendars have been looked at and discussed by the district’s Curriculum and Instruction team; a district Calendar Committee comprised of teachers and administrators; the Superintendent’s Parent Advisory Board made up of parents from all schools; Bruce Borchers, the superintendent; and myself. Both calendars give staff and parents a choice in the type of calendar they want for the children of Oak Ridge.

The traditional calendar is the calendar that most of the Oak Ridge schools have had for quite a while. Students come to school in the middle of August, have a one week fall break, two weeks off for winter, a one week spring break, dismissal at the beginning of June, and an eleven- to twelve-week summer.

The balanced calendar is a new calendar that Oak Ridge has never had before. It is called a balanced calendar due to the balance that it gives for instructional time in the classroom; about nine weeks at a time. Students typically arrive for school the first week in August, have a two week fall break, two weeks off for winter, two weeks off for spring break, dismissal at the beginning of June, and a seven- to eight-week summer. The balanced calendar is not like the Willow Brook Elementary or Preschool calendar, where students start school in mid-July and have three-week breaks. [Read more…]