NLPS seeking input on 2022-2023 Draft School Calendar

Northern Lights Public Schools Board (NLPS) is seeking input on its 2022-2023 Draft School Calendar. The calendar was approved in principle by the Board of Trustees on December 10, 2021 and is now being shared with stakeholders for feedback.

The calendar includes 192 operational days and 178 instructional days, which is the same as the current 2021-2022 calendar. There are a total of five professional development days for staff, including the division’s annual Ignite conference.

Nicole Garner works in Communications for NLPS.

“NLPS seeks feedback on all of its calendars annually from all stakeholders because we know the whole community is impacted by what days students are in school and what days are no school days,” Garner told Lakeland Connect. “While there are many requirements that we have to meet with our calendar, we do have some flexibility to address the needs of our families and communities. For example, we have continued to offer Family Fridays in our calendar instead of early dismissals because our stakeholders have told us that Family Fridays work better for them.”

Previous feedback from stakeholders has indicated support for Family Fridays and a preference to avoid early dismissal days. There are a total of five Family Fridays, with no school for students or staff, included in the draft calendar and no early dismissal days.

As with previous calendars, the 2022-2023 draft school calendar includes four-day weekends coinciding with Thanksgiving and Victoria Day, a two-week break at Christmas, and a spring break that coincides with Easter. This year’s calendar also includes September 30 – National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as a no school day for students and staff.

The calendar was developed by a committee that includes two school administrators and two representatives from the Alberta Teachers’ Association local, Garner added.

They reviewed a number of factors that impact the school calendar including provincial diploma exam and achievement test schedules, average number of instructional and operational days in other Alberta school jurisdictions, the requirement to have 950 hours of instructional time at the elementary school level and 1,000 hours in high school, and the caps on instructional and assignable time for teachers.

Please share your thoughts about the draft calendar in our discussion forum below. The forum will be open from January 5 to February 3. Feedback will be reviewed by division administration and the Board of Trustees prior to final approval of the calendar in February. The finalized calendar will be shared with all stakeholders once it is approved.

To view the 2022-2023 Draft School Calendar click here.