Half days? Out.
A full week for Spring Break? Gone.
Built-in snow day compensation? Those are still there.
The Warren County School District calendar looks a little different this year.
The first day for students will be Tuesday, Aug. 28.
The last day will be Thursday, June 6.
There are no half days in the schedule. Half days are not cost-effective and are inconvenient to parents, Director of Administrative Support Services Amy Stewart said.
The school district has not eliminated the possibility of half days returning in future years, but is going without for 2012-2013.
The four-day Thanksgiving vacation is typical - students will not have to attend school Wednesday, Nov. 21, through Monday, Nov. 26. "Thanksgiving mirrors what it has been in the past," Stewart said.
"The Christmas break is traditional," Director of Secondary Education Amanda Hetrick said.
Christmas Day is on a Tuesday this year. Students will attend school on Friday, Dec. 21, and not again until Wednesday, Jan. 2.
There are additional holidays and unspecified days off in the schedule: Monday, Sept. 3 - Labor Day; Friday, Oct. 19; Monday, Feb. 4; Friday, March 29 - Easter holiday; and Monday, May 27 - Memorial Day.
The district had a spring break in 2011-2012. "There's not a spring break like we did this year," Hetrick said. However, there are several days surrounding Easter Sunday that are possible days off.
There are six energy days on the calendar - days that students will not attend school unless school days are canceled due to weather. Those days are Monday, Feb 18, Thursday, March 28, Monday and Tuesday, April 1-2, Friday, May 3, and Friday, May 24.
If there are no snow days prior to March 28, students will have a spring break of four days - Thursday, March 28 through Tuesday, April 2.
Friday, March 29, is a holiday, with Easter falling on Sunday, March 31.
If there is a snow day before Easter, the first Energy Day that will be used to regain that missed time will be Tuesday, April 2. According to the calendar, Energy Days will be used in the following order if necessary: April 2, Feb. 18, March 28, May 3, April 1, and May 24.
The last day for students will be a full day on Thursday, June 6.
Commencement will be on Friday, June 7. "We left it on Friday for the convenience of families," Hetrick said.
Not having a half day of school on the day of commencement will free up administrators to work on graduation-related activities, Stewart said.
In the past, teachers had worked 186-day school year schedules. As part of the negotiated pay freeze agreed to by both the Warren County Education Association and the school board, teachers will officially work 183 days this year, Stewart said.
There are 177 student days, three Act 80 professional development days, two other professional development days, and a professional development day combined with parent-teacher conferences. Teachers will work, without the presence of students, on Friday, Aug. 24, Monday, Aug. 27, Friday, Nov. 9, and Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 21-22. Parent-teacher conferences are set for Thursday, Nov. 8.
Students must put in 180 school days to satisfy state requirements. The district's school days are longer than required, and the additional hours per day add up to three days of instruction, Stewart said, allowing the district to operate on a 177-day calendar for students.