Family Update: School Calendar for 2020-21
Dear Breakthrough Families,
As we celebrate our graduates and conclude what has been the absolute strangest end to a school year in our life times, we are also proactively thinking about the upcoming school year. In this week’s Family Update, we want to communicate a few things that we already know about next year, and let you know about our plans for all the possible scenarios we may be faced with. This includes a few schedule-related changes for the 2020-2021 school year designed to provide time for the teachers and leaders across Breakthrough Schools to learn together and maximize their impact on your students.
Core Features of the Academic Year
Network-Wide Calendar: We are very excited to announce that we will be moving to a unified, network-wide calendar. This means that all of our schools will have the same first day, last day, and days off. We see many advantages to this streamlined approach to the school year, including easier planning for families with scholars in two or more of our schools.
You can always access the latest version of our school calendar here: BPS School Calendar.
Key Dates: Our current plan is for the school year to start Monday, August 17th and conclude on Friday, May 28th.
School Week: All schools will start every day at 8:00am and let out at 3:20pm Tuesday - Friday. We are currently planning for Early Dismissal every Monday at 1:00pm, starting after Labor Day.
We know this is a big change for many of our families, but believe that having this dedicated time block for our educators is critical to supporting them in providing an excellent educational experience for every scholar and to be ensuring we are prepared no matter what the upcoming year looks like. We also plan to use this time to increase our focus on areas we know are important to families, including social emotional learning and diversity, equity, and inclusion. We fully recognize the implications of this change and will be actively working with each school and community to share all available after-school options and resources for these Early Dismissal Mondays.
Scenario Planning: Given all the unknowns around what the situation regarding COVID-19 will be in the late summer and fall, and at the Governor’s direct recommendation (see video below) we are planning for every possible scenario. While we certainly hope to be back in physical school buildings come fall, we are simultaneously preparing for being able to turn “on” and “off” high quality Distance Learning as required. Our promise is to do *everything* we can to deliver the best possible educational experience to you and your scholar(s), and we know that being prepared for every scenario will be essential.
In conclusion, we are focused on planning proactively and responsibly for the upcoming school year. We have you all at the top of our minds at all times, and delivering on our promise of a high-quality education for your scholars is always our number one priority.
We all wish you the very best as we move into the summer season, and look forward to staying in touch, virtually for now, and hopefully in person very soon. Take care and all the best.
Andrew McRae
Chief Academic Officer, Breakthrough Schools