Monticello board adopts 2025–26 school calendar with unified trimesters and no early dismissals

The Monticello Public School District board unanimously approved the 2025'16 school calendar at its Feb. 24 meeting.

Superintendent Kevin Olsen told the board the calendar aims to "put kids first" while meeting state minimums. Under the adopted plan, kindergarten will have 169 student days, grades 1— will have 168 days, grades 6—1 will have 170 days and grade 12 will have 166 days; the differences reflect built-in professional or transition days. Olsen said the district must meet a 165-day statutory minimum and satisfy required instructional minutes.

District leaders highlighted several practical changes. For the first time all schools will operate on the same trimester schedule, which administrators said improves symmetry for grading and conferences. The calendar adds a district-wide teacher workshop day in mid-August so all staff and new teachers work together; the administration said that change fosters collaboration and can reduce separate paid new-teacher days. The calendar also eliminates early-dismissal days for the school year, with professional learning folded into regular days.

Board members praised the schedule and its family-oriented timing of breaks. The board approved the calendar by voice vote, 5—0.

Superintendent Olsen cautioned that reproducing the same layout in future years will be more difficult because of calendar-date shifts (for example, Labor Day timing), and said the district is already exploring options for 2026'7. He said the district will continue to communicate the set of "digital at-home learning" days that statutes allow and reminded families about the distribution of winter and spring breaks.

The calendar approval was a formal action taken during the meeting and passed 5—0.