The RISD Calendar Committee has presented two options for the 2022-23 school year. The committee is made up of central administrators, campus leaders and community members, including RISD Trustee Eron Linn.
RISD seeks to create a learning structure that allows all students to thrive while also being able to provide all the necessary support time for teachers. There are a number of state requirements Texas school districts must adhere to when creating academic calendars, such as building in two bad-weather days, ensuring at least 75,600 instructional minutes, and providing for up to 13 days of professional development for teachers.
Because RISD is a state-approved district of innovation, it can start the school year as early as the second Monday of August, which allows for a more flexible and balanced calendar.
The proposed Option 1 for 2022-23 includes a start date of Wednesday, Aug, 10, and ends on May 25, which is a Thursday. Under Option 1, students would start the second semester on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023, and teachers and staff would return a day earlier. (Opción 1 para 2022-23)
The proposed Option 2 for 2022-23 includes a start date of Tuesday, Aug. 16, and ends on Friday, May 26. Under Option 2, the return date after winter break in January 2023 will be Monday, Jan. 2, for staff and Tuesday, Jan. 3 for students. (Opción 2 para 2022-23)
Please take a moment to learn about the two options and use RISD’s Let’s Talk feature to provide feedback. The final version of the 2022-23 calendar is expected to be presented to RISD trustees at the February 15 meeting, when feedback from parents, employees, and stakeholders will be shared with the board.
Both options end the 2022-2023 school year before Memorial Day which has been a consistent request of internal and external stakeholders.
RISD teachers and most families prefer to have the first semester end before the winter break, and many high school students in Advanced Placement and Career Technical Education take classes that are only given for half a semester. This means that a mostly balanced number of days in each semester is something teachers and the calendar committee both agree upon, as it allows students to get as much instructional time as possible in each semester.
RISD also tries to coordinate Spring Break with Dallas College because nearly 3,000 RISD students take dual-credit classes through the college, which present major scheduling problems and disadvantages for students if the breaks don’t coincide.
One of the key differences between the two proposed calendars is the placement of staff development days throughout the year at the request of teachers. For example, the March 20 staff development day in Option 1 is an opportunity to provide job-embedded real-time supports for staff to ensure that they are growing all students.
Finally, student safety is a priority in all things, including the calendar process, and both options include a student holiday on general Election day in November when most campuses double as voting locations. At many schools, operating a school day while hundreds of visitors have access to the school presents a substantial security risk that can be avoided by this advance planning.
For more information on the 2022-23 calendar options, please view the video below. (en español)
