FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — Northwest Allen County Schools are reevaluating the structure of their school year.
On Monday night at the school board meeting, a presentation was made on two options for the district.
Option 1 (current schedule)
The first option is what NACS currently follows.
It’s a one-day fall break on Oct. 21 with school starting on Aug. 14 and ending on May 29.
Under this model, parent-teacher conferences take place on Oct. 18.
You can view a calendar of option one that NACS provided on Monday.
Option 2
The second option changes the current model so that school would start earlier.
It includes a seven-day fall break that lasts from Oct. 14 to Oct. 18.
The school year would instead start on Aug. 7 and end on May 28.
Under the model, parent-teacher conferences are also shifted to take place Oct. 9.
You can view a calendar of option two that NACS provided on Monday.
The school took feedback from parents- a component that was important to the district- through a survey to help build another option for the school year structure.
“We surveyed about 3,000,” Superintendent Wayne Barker said. “What we found out is that our parents were divided in terms of what they wanted, but they were also very appreciative that we did a survey”
Ultimately the school board was given the recommendation and chose to adopt option 2, pushing the school year earlier and adding a week-long fall break.
Barker said that while votes among parents were very split, staff feedback largely favored the second option.
“It’s difficult, you want to find a model that meets the needs of everyone,” Barker said.
Barker said that he plans to also get the calendar for the next two school years set, and then collect feedback on the longer fall break and earlier start time.
“After we have a chance to experience the fall break we’ll survey the families again to get an idea from them, how they feel about it after they’ve actually experienced it,” Barker said. “My goal as a superintendent is to be two years out in calendars so families can plan.”
