For many years, this week, that last one before Labor Day, was the start of the school year. Before that, it was a week known for vacations, like the week after the Christmas holiday.
Now, most San Diego public schools have been open for several weeks, despite the sweltering heat. I may not be representative of most families, but I hear a lot of complaints about it. Our family is very opposed. It seems like in San Diego we should go to school in June when it’s cool out and we don’t need to use as much energy to cool buildings.
To go back to school when it’s the hottest feels just off.
I asked San Diego Unified why. Nicole DeWitt, the deputy superintendent of instruction at the district, told me that student performance has improved since it started moving the opening of the school year into early August.
She said before her time at the district, there were many concerns that students didn’t truly get a winter break. Running on semesters meant students often had finals and projects due right after the winter break.
“Having two weeks off of school and then coming back and having to take a final exam was not ideal,” she said.
She also said that moving the school year back provided more time for students to prepare for AP exams after winter break, which begin in May.
I asked about the air conditioning costs.
“That’s not something that we were looking at when we were developing the calendar. We really were basing the development of the calendar on student outcomes,” she said.
And it’s just been two years, but she said the data has shown it is a good change. “We actually did see a reduction in D and F grades that were issued when the semester ended before the winter break,” she said. They sent me these charts.
The school calendars for San Diego Unified are set for the next two years.