Students will return to their classrooms in the South Kitsap School District earlier this fall, just one of the changes brought on by a new student calendar approved last winter.

The school board approved the restructured calendar for 2024-25 in February. The district hopes that a change in the schedule will reduce learning loss and address student and staff burnout.

Aug. 27 will serve as day one for grades 1-12, with kindergarten to follow Sept. 3 after the Labor Day weekend. With just three days of classes in week one – there are no classes Aug. 30 – and four days in week 2, the new calendar appears to present an opportunity for staff and students alike to ease into the new school year.

Winter break will last for two weeks from Dec. 23 – Jan. 3, and an extended mid-winter break will run from Feb. 17 (Presidents’ Day) to Feb. 21. Spring break is also being pushed back from the first week of April to April 14-18. June 13 will be the last day of school.

The changes were made using public and staff input. The board had asked superintendent Tim Winter to explore school year modifications in May 2023, and a Modified Calendar Committee conducted multiple rounds of surveys to determine the best fit.

Just under 3,000 responses were obtained in an initial survey sent to district staff and families that asked respondents to rank three calendar options for the upcoming school year. Receiving the most preference was a calendar that would have students return prior to Labor Day while extending the President’s Day break to a full week.

A second survey was presented only to district staff, who were tasked with choosing between the preferred calendar and a similar calendar that included suggestions received in the first survey. Staffing groups of administrators, certified and classified staff that took the survey all preferred the latter option.