On Thursday, January 9, the LHUSD Governing Board voted to adopt the Academic Calendar for the 25-26 school year and table the adoption for the 26-27 school year. The board will gather more feedback from parents and staff in the coming months before moving forward with adoption of the 26-27 school calendar.
For the 25-26 school year, school will begin on July 31st with one week for fall break, two weeks for winter break, and one week for spring break. School will end May 21st, which will also be the date for LHHS graduation. There continues to be eight weeks of summer vacation. LHUSD will continue to offer summer school in June and work with Parks and Recreation for summer camps. The calendar adopted was the same calendar that has been in use for the past two years, which maximizes instructional time and still allows for a variety of student vacation days.
The LHUSD academic calendar was created collaboratively with a committee made up of teachers, staff, and administrators. LHUSD conducted a staff survey with overwhelming approval for the calendar including the Thursday start. Each principal met with families during site council meetings and collected feedback about the calendar.
Some things to note with the 25-26 school year calendar. Each quarter has 45 days, and each semester has 90 days. LHUSD runs quarter, semester, and yearlong classes and having balanced schedules is important to ensure students have adequate time to learn in each class. Because of the date the calendar starts, high school students take their finals before they leave for winter break and do not have to finish first semester classes after winter break. LHUSD elected to move to a Thursday start two years ago to provide an opportunity to support primary students starting school for the first time. LHUSD will continue to have early release at 1 PM for K-8 students and 12:25 PM for HS students. Staff uses this time to plan and prepare lessons, work across the district, and attend in-service meetings.
The Governing Board looks forward to collaborating with staff and families to develop our next school calendar. A survey will be sent out in the next few weeks to gather information for an upcoming work session.