Saint Jo ISD 2023-2024 Academic Calendar & Transition to 9-Week Grading Periods
Saint Jo ISD 2023-2024 Academic Calendar & Transition to 9-Week Grading Periods
Board Approved 3-20-2023
The Saint Jo ISD Board of Trustees recently adopted the Academic Calendar for 2023-2024 as approved by the District Improvement Team and presented by Administration. You will notice the calendar looks different from years past, with more student holidays and adjusted start/end times. While many districts in the immediate area, and all of North Texas, have adopted a 4-day school week, at this time, we do not feel that model is the best fit for Saint Jo ISD. After much research and many meetings, the adopted calendar is a hybrid/blended model that allows teachers more time to work and plan within the school year, as well as more time off for both students and staff in the Spring. This type of calendar will allow the district to collect our own “real” data for one year, better guiding future decisions regarding the academic school calendar, and what is best for Saint Jo ISD.
In line with calendar planning, academic grading periods was the other critical component. Saint Jo ISD will be moving to 9-week grading periods for 2023-2024. The transition to 9-week grading periods creates more time for students to demonstrate their understanding of concepts. Additional benefits and details:
- Longer grading periods support teachers’ best assessment practices. Experts agree that grades should represent student performance after they have had the chance to practice and receive feedback and intervention.
- Longer grading periods increase the focus on learning and decrease the focus on grades. In longer marking periods, decisions about what to grade can be more authentic to student learning to represent adequate evidence of student mastery.
- Longer grading periods create greater accuracy and efficiency. A longer marking period provides time to intervene and re-assess prior to report card grade submission.
- Longer grading periods increase the opportunity for students to maintain eligibility for longer periods of time. Students can regain eligibility twice each 9-week marking period.
- Categories/Weights would remain unchanged
- Parents will get 4 report cards (at the end of each grading period), and Progress Reports (IPR) at the 3- and 6-week point of each grading period.
- Certain events and activities that follow grading periods, including progress reporting for special education students, follows the grading period.
- UIL eligibility follows the same pattern as on 6-week grading periods. Students can lose their eligibility if they are failing at the end of the sixth week of school or at the end of a nine-week grading period. They can regain eligibility at the nine-week marking period or any Interim Progress Report (IPR) after the first nine-week marking period. Eligibility is lost for failing any class at the end of the grading period.
Please contact your campus principal if you have any questions.