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Tuesday, August 12, 2008
School? Already?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m back! I feel like summer is in full swing, but in fact, school started this week for most kids in the area. There is all kinds of super-cute back-to-school photo gallery proof right here.
Five-year-old Kylie Kirk heads to school in Acworth. Kylie got some help from her dad Robert Kirk in finding her kindergarten classroom on the first day of school at Pickett’s Mill Elementary School.
Really? School? Already?
My high school in Michigan (Go Holly Bronchos!) won’t start school until Sept. 2. High school was a while ago now, but I distinctly remember the post-Labor Day start.
Here, the Department of Education list of 2008-09 school calendars shows that it’s a rarity.
I called Dana Tofig, spokesman for the Georgia Department of Education, to find out what’s behind the early start.
The answer: “It’s hard to say why.”
It’s not a statewide decision; each school system sets its own calendar. Many want an early start date so they can complete testing before the winter break rolls around. It can work particularly well for schools on block scheduling.
We also have 22 school systems with a year-round schooling component, which means there is no lengthy summer break like the one on a traditional school calendar.
The earliest start date I saw for a school with a traditional calendar: Chattahoochee County, July 24.
The latest: Chatham County, Sept. 2.
A story by AJC reporter Laura Diamond, keeper of the Get Schooled blog, pointed out the State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox introduced a plan to start the school year later. (Read that story here.) Tofig says it’s just out there for the schools to consider.
There are some perks, of course, to the early start. Atlanta Public Schools students can start summer jobs and video game marathons come May 22, 2009.
Even if a miracle occurs and my high school’s year ends without a half-dozen snow days to make up, kids at my high school will soldier on till June 10.
Tell me: what do you think of Georgia school start date? Or is this the same-old start date you’re used to?
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