Modifications made to Spencerport school calendar

Modifications made to Spencerport school calendar

According to Spencerport's Superintendent, Mary Anne Kermis, there are modifications being made to the school calendar.

School will be in session for a half-day November 23 for all students in grades kindergarten through grade 12. In the past, the day before Thanksgiving break was a parent conference day, and students were not in attendance. This year, it has been scheduled as an instructional day. Recognizing that many families travel on this holiday, the school has agreed that it will be in session for a half day. District buses will be available to take students home at the end of the half day.

The schedule for November 23 will be as follows: The 9-12 students will be released at 11:10 a.m.; students in grades 6-8 will be released at 11:50 a.m.; and the K-5 students will be released at 12:30 p.m.

The district is joining the other eight districts in the BOCES 2 region in two Common Rating Days: Friday, January 27 and Thursday, April 13. On these two days, all of the K-8 grade teachers will join teachers from other districts in the region to score the New York state assessments in English Language Arts and Math for grades three through eight.

The schedule for the two Common Rating Days is as follows: Friday, January 27, 2006 (Common ELA Rating Day) No school for students K-12. This day was declared a Regents Rating Day for high school and middle school; students were not scheduled for attendance. This is a change for K-5. Students will not be in attendance on this day.

Thursday, April 13, 2006 (Common Math Rating Day), no school for students K-8. High school classes will be in session.

Spencerport will join other districts in the region for these Common Rating Days because in the past the scoring of just one of the ELA assignments required releasing 12 teachers for three days from classroom instruction. With six tests in ELA and six in math, the disruption to daily instruction is extensive. Participation in the Common Rating Days minimizes the time a teacher is pulled out of the classroom to only one day for ELA and one day for math.

If Spencerport chose not to participate in these two Common Rating Days, substitute teachers would have been assigned to classrooms so teachers could be released to accomplish this scoring. Participation in these two Common Rating Days eliminates the need for substitute teachers and therefore saves the district approximately $45,000.

Viewing and assessing student work is a powerful staff development experience. By participating in the two Common Rating Days the district is able to provide this valuable learning opportunity for all our K-8 staff. Teachers benefit from collaborating with a variety of educators during these full days of intensive scoring, according to Kermis.

"Although we believe that we have made the best possible decision for our students, we apologize for any inconveniences these calendar changes may cause you and your family," Kermis said.