Cape Girardeau students head back to school this week

After a summer full of camps, vacations and sleeping in, the first day of school often approaches before students are prepared. As that start date creeps up from late to mid-August to the second week of the month, many parents also are marveling at how quickly the school year is approaching.

Some parents will on Wednesday be ushering their children out the door with backpacks full of new school supplies, while others still have a few days of break left to enjoy.

Jim Welker, superintendent of Cape Girardeau School District, said the decision to begin classes on Wednesday was based primarily around creating a well-balanced semester.

"We try to make sure we can finish the semester before Christmas break," he said. "Especially at the high school level, we don't want students coming back over the break after Christmas to take any final tests."

He said for the last "several years," the district has started the school year around the same time in early August. The date can sometimes fluctuate based on fixed points in the semester, such as the Thanksgiving holiday or the "professional development" days scheduled by the school.

Determining the first day of school also depends on one simple factor: the day on which Christmas falls.

"This year, Christmas falls on a Wednesday," Welker said. "We wouldn't want students to go to school just one day that week on the 23rd, so we're actually starting on a Wednesday this year to avoid going just one day. We believe that going to class just one day, there's not really any value in that."

Scott Ireland, who will soon begin his first school year as superintendent of the Perry County School District, said he's still learning about the way the county's schools plan the year. In his 16 years in the education field, he said he has noticed scheduling is a "local decision" that varies by district.

"Different factors go into making the schedules," Ireland said. "Some schools wait until after certain events, like the state fair or something, and other times it's just a matter of being able to fit everything in before Christmas break."

Like Cape Girardeau, students attending public schools in Perry County also will head back to school Wednesday.

The schools also have a few state laws to take into consideration when planning the school year. According to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's website, "each school board shall prepare annually a calendar for the school term, specifying the opening date and providing a minimum term of at least 174 days for schools with a five-day week ... and 1,044 hours of actual pupil attendance."

Those calendars also must include six makeup days to account for possible cancellations because of inclement weather.

Welker said schedules for the Cape Girardeau district are set two years in advance. School faculty and administration work with the Community Teachers Association calendar committee to plan ahead and make scheduling "easier," he said.

He also said the district communicates with other schools when working on the school year schedule.

"We work very closely with the Career and Technology Center, which is also why we try to make our schedules early," Welker said. "They probably have about 10 different schools that submit schedules to the center, so we try to be considerate of that and give them time to work out their schedule as well."

For students attending local parochial schools, classes will not resume until late August. Notre Dame Regional High School will welcome all students back Aug. 22, but will first hold an orientation for incoming freshmen.

Principal Brother David Migliorino said students, parents and faculty are "absolutely pleased" with the calendar.

"Many years ago, we started after Labor Day, but all that's changed now as we try to get more done in the first semester," he said. "Now, we typically start around Aug. 20. We like students to have a good part of the summer to themselves and not be rushed. ... It also leaves enough room to get everything finished by Christmas."

Migliorino said creating the calendar is a joint effort between faculty, himself and administration. Teachers create "curriculum maps," he said, which are given to the superintendent, the students and to parents to give everyone an idea of what will be covered in the semester.

All of the school officials agreed that the most important factor taken into consideration when scheduling each year was student learning.

"You have all these factors to plug in and try to fit into one time frame, but the overall consideration is always for the students," Welker said.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

301 N. Clark Ave., Cape Girardeau, MO

326 College St, Perryville, MO

265 Notre Dame Dr, Cape Girardeau, MO