The Board of Education of Anne Arundel County today approved changes to the 2015-2016 school year calendar that include increasing the time available for parents to engage with their child’s teachers by building in a day for parent-teacher conferences in the third marking period.
The change is the first step toward creating parent-teacher conferences in each marking period in future calendars, something Superintendent George Arlotto views as critical to enhancing engagement and collaboration between schools, students, and parents.
As approved, the calendar:
- maintains parent-teacher conference days on the Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving, but creates time for all secondary schools to hold conferences on those days as well as elementary schools.
- adds Monday, February 22, 2016, as a third day for parent-teacher conferences at all schools.
- Moves the end of the school year back one day, to Friday, June 17, 2016.
- changes the date on which schools are closed for the 2016 primary election from Tuesday, April 5, 2016, to Tuesday, April 26, 2016, to accommodate the election date change made by the General Assembly.
The calendar continues to build in five days for inclement weather closings. Should any more than five days be needed, Dr. Arlotto would discuss a potential waiver with the Maryland State Department of Education before making a decision on using specific days during Easter/Spring break as makeup days.
An updated copy of the approved calendar accompanies this release.
2015-2016 School Year Calendar (approved by Board on 5-6-15)