Academic Enhancement Calendar Questions and Answers
January 2009

1. What is different about this calendar compared to the traditional calendar?

Students on this calendar begin school around the first of August, have a two week break after the first and third nine weeks, and a three week break after the second nine weeks. One week of each break, known as an intersession, is used to provide acceleration and remediation activities for students. Acceleration activities would include activities for students who have mastered the curriculum taught during the previous nine weeks. These activities may include going deeper and thinking deeper about the topics taught during the previous nine weeks and / or new enrichment topics that cannot be provided during the regular school year due to time constraints. Summer vacation on the Academic Enhancement Calendar begins at about the same time as it does for traditional schools. Students have about seven weeks off in the summer, unless they attend summer school. All students in the school using this alternative schedule follow the same calendar.

2. Is this the same year round calendar that has previously been discussed by the Board of Education?

No. Previously, the Board of Education was asked to consider Multi-Track Year Round schools, similar to Wake County. Multi-Track Year Round schools have four different calendars at each school with four groups of students each following a different calendar. The school is occupied by students all year round, except for holidays. The different calendars allow the school to serve more students than a single calendar. It was for this increased student capacity within a given school that the school system looked at the multi-track option. The Board decided not to pursue the multi-track option. The Board has never considered an Academic Enhancement Calendar option for schools. Until the Board approves a school or schools changing calendars, schools would not be able to do so. As of now, schools have NOT been approved to make the change. The staff and Board are only exploring the nature and possibilities of this optional calendar. No decision has been made and one is not anticipated until at least February.

3. Why would a school want to go to use the Academic Enhancement Calendar? What are its advantages?

The Academic Enhancement Calendar has several advantages:
• Intersessions provide up to three additional weeks of enrichment and remediation activities for students whose parents elect for them to participate. Research has clearly shown that more time on task improves student achievement for those who need additional help. Students who do not need the additional help will have enrichment opportunities that allow them to go beyond what is typically taught within the 180 day calendar. This provides the additional challenge that these students need and sometimes are not able to receive during the regular schedule. Therefore, all students can benefit from the concept - both those needing extra help and those who are ready to go further in their studies.
• Students have an ample summer vacation (seven weeks) with the proposed calendar, but the shortened timeframe for vacation reduces the loss over the summer break of what has been learned during the regular year.
• Teachers experience less burnout because they have more frequent opportunities for breaks during the school year. Teachers are therefore at a higher level of motivation throughout the year as compared to teachers on a traditional calendar. The assumption is that students with more motivated teachers will have a better educational experience. Schools consistently report that teacher morale on this calendar is a bonus for all involved. The schools attribute much of the success with student achievement to this one factor. Its impact should not be underestimated.
• Families with all their children on the Academic Enhancement Calendar may take vacations at times when others may not have that opportunity.

4. How long do the intersessions last? Will transportation be provided?

Intersessions typically run an abbreviated school day (4 to 5 hours). The intersessions last only one week. That leaves one week at the end of the first nine and third nine weeks as a vacation week for students and staff. The break at the end of the third nine weeks will be spring break. The intersession after the second nine weeks is also one week and is followed by two weeks of vacation, which will be Christmas vacation. Transportation to and from the intersessions will be provided.

5. Do all students and teachers participate in the intersessions?

Traditionally not all students and teachers participate in intersessions. Students who are at risk of not being successful would most likely be encouraged to attend. Based on visits to schools using this model, schools employ about two teachers per grade level to work each intersession and perhaps a teacher assistant for a school of between 500 and 700 students. The schools have not had any serious problem with securing teachers for the intersessions. The teachers do not have to be the same teachers for each intersession; some may choose to work some intersessions and not others. Schools visited report from 20% to 30% of the students being involved in intersessions.

6. What would be the pay scale for teachers and teacher assistants during the intersessions?

All employees working the intersession would earn the same hourly rate of pay as they do during the regular year.

7. Will there be a cap on the number of students participating in the intersessions?

Each school will be provided a budget within which to operate the intersessions. If the interest exceeds the budget, then the school will have to prioritize the student applications.

8. What does the calendar look like?

The attached calendar is from Union County, North Carolina for this school year. It is expected that Johnston County Schools would use a similar calendar.

9. How are the issues of child care during the intersessions addressed if a school uses this calendar?

The schools will provide a pay as you go all day child care to those wishing to use the service. Private providers in districts with similar calendars also typically offer intersession child care options to their customers.

10. Will child care be provided for the children of the teachers during the month of August when their children may not be in school?

The schools that have used this model in other districts have not provided this service. At this time, there are no plans to provide this service for our teachers.

11. How can families plan vacations if they have students on two different calendars?

The summer calendars of a traditional and an Academic Enhancement school overlap significantly (seven weeks). Families should be able to plan appropriately. In addition, there is also overlap at Christmas and often at Spring Break.

12. What evidence is there that these calendars work?

North Graham Elementary School in Alamance County went from the lowest performing Title I school in the district to the highest performing Title I school in the district since beginning to use this calendar about seven years ago. (Title I schools are those with the largest numbers of students utilizing free and reduced lunch prices.) In both Alamance County and Union County where this calendar has been used for the past seven to ten years, additional schools have adopted the calendar. In Alamance, there are now three and in Union there are now five. The fact that the community has expanded the program to other schools is evidence of the program's success.

13. What will be the process for Johnston County Schools to be considered to go to the new calendar? How can parents have input into the process?

The Johnston County Board of Education will have to approve for any school to move to the Academic Enhancement Calendar. This calendar option is only being explored at this time with absolutely no commitment for any school to adopt. This fall and winter, a study committee is going to be evaluating the concept before any decision is made by the Board of Education. If the committee finds the model favorable, then a process will be developed by the study committee that will be presented to Board for consideration. The proposal will detail what schools and the school community will have to provide to the Board if they wish to move to the new calendar. The study committee recommendations are expected to be presented to the Board in January and February, 2009. Parents will be given at least two opportunities to learn more about the model through parent meetings at their schools in November / December and again in January.

14. How can parents and faculty learn more about this model?

Parents should attend the parent meetings in November / December and / or in January. Faculty will be presented information about the model throughout the fall and winter as the study committee completes its work.

15. Does it cost more to use such a calendar? Who will pay?

There are additional costs. These additional costs would include:
• Bus transportation for the three weeks of intersessions
• Staff salaries for the three weeks of intersessions
• Additional heating and air conditioning for the three weeks of intersessions
• Consumable instructional materials for the intersessions
The estimate of the costs for an individual school is about $60,000. The schools being considered already receive additional funds for school reform that could be used to meet about half of the cost. The other $30,000 would have to come from additional at risk money that is made available from the state.

16. Given current state and local concerns regarding budgets, is it reasonable to expect that funds will be available for this project?

The board and the administration will have to monitor funding streams as they are affected by the economic downturn. If the current sources of funds are reduced significantly, then there may have to be a reconsideration of any schools approved to move forward with the new calendar. This would likely be a condition of any approval for implementation.

17. What schools are being considered for conversion to the Academic Enhancement Calendar? Why were these schools selected? Will other schools be allowed to consider this calendar option? Do these schools have to convert?

The three schools being considered this year for conversion are Selma Elementary, South Smithfield Elementary, and West Smithfield Elementary. These schools were selected based on the high numbers of children who may benefit from the intersession experience. The schools DO NOT have to convert - in fact, they cannot convert until the Johnston County Board approves the request made by the school using the process the Board will adopt. For these schools to convert to the new calendar, the school and school community must request the Board of Education to approve the conversion and the Board subsequently approve the request. If any or all of these schools convert, they would be considered pilots for the district. The pilots would be expected to stay with the model long enough for the effectiveness of the model to be evaluated, a minimum of three to five years. If the pilots are successful, then it would be anticipated that the Board of Education would entertain other schools and school community requests to move to the Academic Enrichment Calendar.

18. Will parents be allowed to transfer their children out of a school that decides to convert to the new calendar?

Students at the school would have the same options for transfer that currently exist in local Board policy and / or through the No Child Left Behind School Choice option. There is not anticipated to be any special provisions for other options to transfer out of schools approved to move to the new calendar.

19. Will teachers be allowed to transfer out of a school that decides to convert to the new calendar?

There currently are administrative procedures in place for teachers to request transfers to other schools. These same processes would be used to address any teachers desire to teach in a school on a traditional calendar.

20. What will happen to the children who are assigned to the AIG Center who will be on a different schedule than the rest of the district?

These students will have to be served. Several options are being explored as to how best to address this issue. In the end, they will have to receive what is called for in our AIG plan and by their particular level of service identification.

21. How would the Academic Enhancement Calendar affect Limited English Proficient (LEP) students and Migrant students?

The summer programs for these two groups would continue as they have in the past. The calendar is such that there is sufficient time to offer summer programs for both groups, just as we have done for a number of years.

It is anticipated that both groups will also take advantage of the intersessions. This will provide these students with more time in school and, in the case of the LEP student, more exposure to the English language.

Finally, for those migrant students whose families typically move to other harvest locations during the months of November through April, the calendar will actually provide them more time in our schools since the school year will be starting earlier than the traditional calendar.

22. If schools go to this calendar, will the school be exempted from the "multi route system" for bus transportation?

Most likely not. Extra drivers will be employed to work when the other schools are not in session, but when the calendars of the schools overlap, the schools on the alternative calendar will most like continue with start and stop times similar to what is currently in place.

23. Will the calendar allow teachers at converted schools to be able to take advantage of professional development opportunities in the district?

Most professional development is provided at the school level. Therefore, the teachers would still have access to school based professional development. In addition, most district training is now provided in the summer. The district would insure the training takes place at a time when teachers on the new calendar could attend.