New Fairfield Public School District

February 4, 2011

Dear Parents/Guardians and Staff, 

To apply a phrase first used by William Shakespeare in Richard III and then by John Steinbeck as the title of a novel, this has been the winter of our discontent.  You must tire of hearing my voice nearly daily with some message as I call your home through the AlertNow system regarding a change to our school day.  The winter weather continues to wreak havoc on the educational process and the continuity with which we are able to approach the curriculum.  Therefore, at the board of education meeting last evening I requested a change in the school calendar for this year.  After much discussion, the change was adopted.  This letter explains the calendar change.  The back of this letter shows the newly revised calendar.

The calendar is set two school years in advance.  At that time we did not know the extent of the remediation that must be done this summer to continue the Meeting House Hill School renovation project.  We also did not know that this winter would cause us to be out of school seven times thus far since the start of January.  As you very well know, we have not had a full week of school since December 13^th.  Therefore, school will be in session on February 16, 17, and 18.  Additional snow/emergency days will be added through June 24^th. Professional development days will be moved to the two days following the last school day for students.  Teachers will then have one more day to report to work after the two professional development days.

I do realize that plans have been made and may not be able to change.  Some students may not be in attendance on those three days.  For these students, we need to understand that we have made the change to the calendar and need to allow for excused absences, if plans cannot be changed.  We do expect that students will make every effort to be at school.  Students will be given assignments in advance and will also be given until Monday, February 28 to complete all missing work.  Additional time needed will be considered at each building on a case-by-case basis.  We will be sensitive to all circumstances, and hope you agree that the sooner the work is completed, the better for student achievement.  High school students missing these days may be asked to provide proof that they had travel tickets, if they exceed the attendance policy by missing any of these three days. 

I do know that you plan your lives based on the set calendar.  The board of education approves the calendar and expects that we will follow it.  This is the first time in 23 years that I have worked with a district that changed a set calendar.  On the back of this sheet you will notice that the April vacation days are noted as possible school days.  I am seeking your input as to which option you would prefer:  taking additional snow days from the end of spring vacation starting with Thursday, April 21 (Friday is Good Friday and school will not be scheduled on this date) OR taking additional snow days from the start of spring vacation on Monday, April 18.  A one-question survey has been prepared at the following link:  http://surveymonkey.com/s/GHSZYL8.  I will share the results of this survey at the next board of education meeting on February 17, at which time I will recommend that we make a decision regarding April vacation.  I will then release an updated calendar. 

The calendar for the 2011-2012 school year will also be reviewed next month by the board of education.  If you would like to make any recommendations for this calendar, please call or send me an email at aroy@newfairfield.org.  All calendars are available at http://www.newfairfieldschools.org/subsite/dist/page/calendar-414. 

I do apologize for the disruption that this calendar change may cause for your family. 

Sincerely,

Dr. Alicia M. Roy
Superintendent of Schools

Calendar 2010-11 Aproved 6-4-09 - Revised 2-17-2011