Bonner enthused with first 45-15 school year
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“I felt we were more focused and received more quality instructional days for students than with the old calendar. We made the right decision,” Bonner said.
Under the 45-15 calendar, Bobby Ray students begin school in mid-July and attend four, nine-week (45 day) sessions followed by three-week (15 day) breaks, with a six-week summer break. Students under the 45-15 calendar attend school for the state required 180 days.
Proponents of the 45-15 calendar say the calendar is more balanced than the nine-months-on, three-months-off tradition calendar. The strongest advantages of the alternative calendar, they say, are the improvement of the continuity in curriculum and the reduction of summer “learning loss.”
The School Board last year approved the 45-15 calendar as a two-year pilot program only at Bobby Ray.
Bonner said when school began last year in mid-July the students came back enthusiastic and ready to learn, an upbeat attitude they kept all year. As the teachers didn’t have to review as much as they usually there were more available instructional days, a fact Bonner is confident will show up on the school’s standardized test scores, as preliminary data have shown.
Additionally, he said, discipline was much better last year than in previous years and the students seemed much happier and much less burnt out at the end of the school year. He attributed this to the three-week intersession breaks. “The breaks came along at just the right time,” he said. “Nine weeks is the right duration.”
During the spring and fall intersession three-week breaks, one week was devoted to voluntary acceleration and enrichment classes. The acceleration classes allowed students who were falling behind an opportunity to catch up to their peers by participating in intensive, small-group classes. Bonner said these classes were effective and several students were caught up who otherwise would have been held back a grade.
The enrichment classes were open to all students and allowed them to participate in fun, educational activities not normally available during the regular school year. Approximately half of the school’s students took advantage of the intersession enrichment activities.
“As this goes on and more people see its advantages, I think schools all across the country will be moving toward this type of calendar. It makes too much educational sense for this not to happen,” said Bonner.
The only negative result of the 45-15 calendar, Bonner said, was several students didn’t show up for school until late August, when the rest of the county schools started, and had to work hard to get caught up. He is confident this will not be as much of a problem during the upcoming school year as more people are familiar with the new calendar.
Registration for the 2002-2003 school year at Bobby Ray will be held July 15, with the first full day of school set for July 17.