Elementary Districts Move to Early Release for 2013-14

The Fox Point-Bayside School District is following the Nicolet High School calendar for 2013-14, including the 16 early release days the high school district has in place. 

This means Fox Point-Bayside students will be released early (at 2:30 p.m. for Stormonth Elementary School and 2 p.m. for Bayside Middle School) on the following days: 

• Sept. 25
• Oct. 9 and 23
• Nov. 6 and 20
• Dec. 4 and 18
• Jan. 8
• Feb. 5 and 19
• March 5 and 19
• April 2
• May 7 and 21
• June 12

The district put out a statement about the early release days, responding to some parent concerns about "the loss of instructional time, childcare arrangement and communication of the change." The early release days are used for staff professional development. Here are some highlights from the statement:

• The calendar is a collaborative effort between Nicolet High School and the three feeder districts because they share transportation. The district is charged extra to run buses outside the shared schedule, and can't afford to take on that expense. 
• Students will gain instructional time with the 2013-14 calendar, despite the early release days because there are two additional student days in the 2013-14 calendar over the 2012-13 calendar, for a gain of 10 hours of instruction. 
• The district will structure early release days so students don't miss the same subject areas each time, possibly rotating the schedule or shortening every period on early release days. 
• The district hopes that with the early notice parents will have time to plan for childcare, whether finding older siblings or teen babysitters to help, or taking advantage of possible on-site extended care.