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Cheltenham previews four draft 2024–25 academic calendars and will survey families
Summary
District staff presented four draft calendars that keep an August start, shift some half days into professional-development periods and propose a full week off for Thanksgiving; a family survey and focus groups will run before the board narrows options in November.
Cheltenham School District staff on Oct. 15 presented four draft academic calendars for the 2024–25 school year and said they will send a family survey and convene focus groups before returning refined options to the Educational Affairs Committee in November.
Miss Savage, who led the calendar presentation, said the district convened an academic calendar committee (parents, community leaders, union representatives, principals and central-office staff) and met Oct. 10 to align board policy and Pennsylvania Department of Education guidance. "We actually are going to preview draft academic calendars for the upcoming school year," she said, describing four models the committee developed.
Why it matters: the drafts change the rhythm of instruction for families and staff. All four keep an August start, add or shift professional development (PD) days, and differ on where half days fall. One draft moves half days from midweek to Fridays; another restores Wednesday PDs. Several drafts introduce a full week off for Thanksgiving rather than the current truncated schedule.
Staff said the calendars attempt to balance assessment calendars, report-card dates and PD time. Miss Savage described specific features: induction and PD days in August, recognition of religious observances (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Eid), a full week for Thanksgiving, a winter break beginning Dec. 24, and an anticipated school end date of Friday, June 12 in most drafts. She also noted the district did not include snow days in the drafts and plans to apply for Pennsylvania flexible-instruction-day approval so weather-related closures can be handled without carved-out snow days.
Board members pressed staff on family impacts and operations: whether half days flagged on the draft ('orange days') are districtwide early releases (they are), how PLC time will be preserved if half days move, and how PD days timed before holidays could affect attendance. One community member said, "I really want to applaud you for just creating this as a process," expressing support for stakeholder involvement but also concern about attendance on PD days scheduled adjacent to holidays.
Next steps: staff will distribute a family survey in about a week, leave it open for roughly three weeks, convene student and family focus groups (including the superintendent student council), reconvene the calendar committee to narrow options, and return with one or two refined drafts at the November Educational Affairs Committee meeting. No calendar adoption vote was taken on Oct. 15; staff said the district intends to present a calendar for board action in December.
Procedural note: the committee approved minutes from the previous meeting at the start of the session by voice vote.
What to watch: the family survey and any subsequent calendar revisions the committee presents in November, and whether final adoption in December will preserve the full-week Thanksgiving or two-week winter-break options discussed.
