A proposed 2025-26 calendar was presented to the Tuscarawas Valley School Board of Education and official approval is expected in February.
For the past few years, the district has been going back to school after Labor Day due to ongoing building construction and renovation.
Superintendent Derek Varansky says the major change for next school term will be an August 20th start date to put the district on a similar calendar as other local schools.
“It provides more weeks of instruction and transition for our younger students prior to all the mandated fall testing. For our AP and CCP students at the high school level they are required to begin classes by August 25th, so in the last two years, those students have either been missing the first two weeks of class or they’ve been doing that completely on their own at home without an instructor.”
An early start will also sync competition timelines, professional development opportunities, and holiday time off.
“Gives us an extra day off for students at Thanksgiving, two full weeks off at Christmas, a break around President’s Day, and a week of spring break prior to the state spring testing. For our staff, it provides an extra day for classroom preparations at the start of the year, it allows us to space out our in-service professional develop days to analyze student data and plan accordingly throughout the school year.”
Varansky adds that the calendar was drafted by the Superintendent Advisory Council consisting of students, teachers, and board members.
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