Schools

Winchester School Calendar Set for 2011-12

The first day of school is set to begin on August 30.

The school year calendar is now official.

In November, the approved the 2011-2012 calendar, which identified the first day of school and the school vacations. The final calendar includes all of the early release dates, parent-teacher conferences, professional development days and any other calendar days.

The first day of school will begin on August 30 – the first time it will be before Labor Day. According to in the coming years, parents should know when the

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“I’m optimistic that we’re in a position not to continue to have this item on our agenda for a full year,” McAlduff said. “With the new contracts, they define when the school year starts. Parents can now look ahead multiple years to see when school begins.”

Under the current collective bargaining agreement, if Labor Day falls between Sep. 1 to Sep. 4, the school year starts after Labor Day, but if it falls between Sep. 5 to Sep 7, the school year will begin before Labor Day.

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The only change to the calendar will come in November.

Tuesday, Nov. 8 was originally scheduled as a Professional Day with no school for students because it would be Election Day. However, because there are no scheduled elections for the coming year, there is no need to have the day off.

And since students will already have off Friday, Nov, 11 for Veterans’ Day, the School Committee voted unanimously to move that Professional Development Day to Thursday, Nov. 10, giving students a four-day weekend.

“Any shift in making the school week a continuous three days is a good thing,” said School Committee member Chris Nixon.

Here are some other important dates:

  • First Day of School – August 30
  • Thanksgiving – Wednesday, Nov. 23 (early release day) – Sunday, Nov. 27
  • Christmas Vacation – Saturday, Dec. 24 to Tuesday, Jan. 3
  • Winter Recess – Saturday, Feb. 18 to Sunday, Feb. 26
  • Spring Vacation – Saturday, April 14 to Sunday, April 22
  • Last Day of School – Tuesday, June 12 (Date subject to be pushed back if there are cancelled school days throughout the course of the year)


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