District Calendar Feedback November 2016
What do you
represent?
What features of the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year What recommendations do you suggest for changes to
Round calendars do you like?
the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year Round
calendars?
Calgary Catholic
Staff Member
Calgary Catholic
Staff Member
Calgary Catholic
Staff Member
Calgary Catholic
Staff Member
Student Advisory
Group
Student Advisory
Group
I like the PD days before the weekend.
continue
Regular Calendar looks great.
I recommend that we go with the draft regular calendar.
Student Advisory
Group
Student Advisory
Group
Student Advisory
Group
No half days, full 2 weeks at Christmas and most of all school None at this time.
starts after labor day.
christmas break
spring break to be the same as cbe last week of Mrach
I really like how we now have full days before Christmas
because no one shows up for a half day.
School year begins after Labour Day long weekend, Holy
Thursday as a full day, extra long weekend for
Remembrance Day.
- starting after Labour Day
- adding two half days together
- full day last day before Christmas holiday
We get a full day off on Thursday before Christmas and on
Easter.
-like Easter when Easter actually is on the calendar not
Spring Break earlier, then a few days off at Easter
- think full days will be good for Elem and Jr. high to do
Christmas/Easter activities
- like when we start after Sept. long weekend
I think it is overall good!
We enjoy every aspect of the drafted calender
- No changes suggested
I would suggest having less PD takes and instead having a
longer Easter break
- a few more PD days to give students a break
- breaks through out the month even just one day off are
great for mental breaks
- Remembrance Day honored No.13, not the 9th to break up
two weeks that month, not one short week after another
week that had a Wednesday off
District Calendar Feedback November 2016
What do you
represent?
What features of the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year What recommendations do you suggest for changes to
Round calendars do you like?
the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year Round
calendars?
Student Advisory
Group
half days combined to make a weekend.
better start date.
Tuesday start date-first week is short so it's and easier
transition
Faith day is two sided: nice to have a day off after halloween,
but also not great to have a day off in the middle of the week
and then go back for 2 days.
June 21 why is it not off
Jan 18,19 in the middle of exam break.
Childcare can be an issue for some families when the breaks
are different between Elem/Jr. High and H.S
Having no half days
Student Advisory
Group
Calgary Catholic
Staff Member
Calgary Catholic
Staff Member
Student
Student
Student Advisory
Group
- start school after Labour Day
I like students starting after Labour Day. I really the full days
before Christmas and Easter.
The removal of half days at Christmas and Easter. Starting
school after the Labour Day Long Weekend
I like the idea of school starting on the 5th instead of before
the long weekend because the new grade 10 students at
Bishop Carroll are going to get a ton of information thrown at
them for one day, and then the teachers expect them to
remember everything.
Starting after Labour Day.
Full day before Christmas - love this
Mixed response - some prefer half day because we don't
really do anything anyway on that day.
PD day on the Friday before Thanksgiving
Not as bad as last year, PD days are in better spots
Christmas break is better in this one than last year as week.
Nice to have days off without siblings sometimes.
Less days off in May because IB kids have exams and don't
have classes most of the month regardless
- Remembrance Day on Nov.13, not Nov.9
is it possible to have PD days on Fridays rather than
Mondays?
Very long time without a break after remembrance day.
The calendar for the 2017-18 is very well laid out, well
thought out. The dates work out really well for all the
students.
Leave the April PD day on the Monday.
confused if the Remembrance Day recognition day is a day
off or just celebrated in the school
District Calendar Feedback November 2016
What do you
represent?
What features of the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year What recommendations do you suggest for changes to
Round calendars do you like?
the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year Round
calendars?
Student Advisory
Group
That it starts after labour day.
Parent/Guardian
Calgary Catholic
Staff Member
Student Advisory
Group
Parent/Guardian
Parent/Guardian
Calgary Catholic
Staff Member
Move Parent Teacher in November to the Monday, and
celebrate Remembrance day on the 10th instead. Better for
students to have two four day weeks than a three and a
five.
I like the way PD days and other events/holidays are grouped I would like to see ALL schools move towards the YRE
to create extended weekends.
calendar. It is proven to be better for student retention and
learning as well as provide more opportunities for families to
travel without missing school. The current format with a long
break in summer supported farming and agriculture several
generations ago. It is time to move forward.
PD days for collaboration and learning!
Allow a few more days before the Christmas break!!
Starting after Labour Day. Having full days before Christmas
and Easter.
I love the year around calendar as i believe it gives the
children more focus on their education. The breaks they get
are broken up better and it allows for time spent at home in
all seasons. I would vote for this hands down.
It highlights school days and holidays, days off and when is
school starts and ends. Very straight forward.
-the first day being after labour day
None
I think it looks good as is.
nothing to add
-not putting PD days next to holidays. Considering putting
PD days on Thursdays (mid-week), to give teachers a bit of
a re-group/re-focus for the week or month
District Calendar Feedback November 2016
What do you
represent?
What features of the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year What recommendations do you suggest for changes to
Round calendars do you like?
the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year Round
calendars?
Parent/Guardian
None. This new calendar format is terribly inefficient.
Parent/Guardian
We are very happy that the students do not begin school
None, we like the calendar the way it is proposed in the
until AFTER Labour Day, and we like the Christmas vacation DRAFT format
schedule very much.
Looks good
In general, what I would appreciate seeing coordination of
holidays with the CBE schedule. With a household that has
spanned both school boards from a student and staff
perspective, coordination would benefit families who are
negotiating childcare needs, before and after care, and/or
holiday time. Plenty goes into the dynamics of creating these
schedules but more food for thought. Thanks!
Parent/Guardian
Parent/Guardian
Calgary Catholic
Staff Member
I like the fact that the new school year starts after Labour day
weekend rather than before. A start date prior to Labour day
was problematic when planning any holidays as we had lost
the ability to enjoy the long weekend.
Staring school after September long weekend. Spring break
with Easter Break.
Recommendations:
- default calendar content MUST fit on only one 8.5" x 11"
page
- colour
- completely eliminate or minimize the size of the CSSD logo
- publish an OPTIONAL large-print, printable, high visibility
schedule for people who require prescription lenses or
vision assistance to view the small print of the default onepage schedule.
- publish a small print format calendar for people who prefer
the option of having a miniature (i.e. wallet sized) calendar
- publish a Google, Outlook and iCal calendar
I hope this is not the new format for the calendar. I like the
current/traditional 2016/2017 calendar format which shows
the pertinent dates beside the month calendar it pertains to.
Like what I see no changes.
District Calendar Feedback November 2016
What do you
represent?
What features of the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year What recommendations do you suggest for changes to
Round calendars do you like?
the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year Round
calendars?
Calgary Catholic
Staff Member
I like the Christmas Break beginning on Dec. 22, I like the
Spring break first week of April instead of the last week in
March
Post Labour day start of classes
no suggested changes, looks very well balanced, thank you.
I'm very pleased that the start day is after Labour day and
that Christmas holidays line up with what will likely be my
work schedule.
I like the start date after Labour Day
Christmas, Easter and spring breaks
This draft is great - thanks!
Parent/Guardian
Parent/Guardian
Parent/Guardian
Parent/Guardian
Parent/Guardian
Parent/Guardian
Starting after labour day weekend
I like that you have Fridays before holidays off as this helps
families who go away ie Thanksgiving
Parent/Guardian
opportunity for feedback and fri prof days
I do not like the full day on Holy Thursday in order to get the
extra time at Christmas. I would prefer to lose the extra day
at Christmas (Dec 22) and go with a half day at Easter.
All looks good to me
We do not have any recommendations. We do really likes
the Year round have more continuity on classes
Not ending as late in June
Two working parent homes do not get Flex Mondays offFridays should be the default for Prof days not Mondays.
Also most before and after school care is not offered the
week of March 26th. Parents will have to pay someone or
take 2 weeks off and this is not realistic. Please do not
assume there is a parent that is not working. Elementary
age children cannot stay home alone so their calendar
needs to be in sync with parents more so.
no Monday prof days these are a pain - also majority of child
care is based on Public school holidays so can be expensive
if you need off weeks
District Calendar Feedback November 2016
What do you
represent?
What features of the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year What recommendations do you suggest for changes to
Round calendars do you like?
the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year Round
calendars?
Parent/Guardian
Regular has appropriate spacing of days off for students and We had an opportunity to send our one child to a year round
working parents
school and the restriction of not being able to have a full
summer and not having aligned holidays with siblings is an
issue. The time off in October proved difficult for child care,
summer at least offers chid care through summer camps.
For working parents we found this schedule not to be a
benefit, which was opposite of what was marketed as the
benefit to working parents. We choose not to put our child
in the year round school accordingly.
Calgary Catholic
Staff Member
Parent/Guardian
Start of school after long weekend
Have the week off before Christmas
that it aligns with the holidays to give families more time
together
Timing of Christmas and Easter breaks. PD days to make
long weekends for student families.
Yes
I like the proposal. I like a full day rather than half day before
breaks
First day of school as a Thursday is ideal but understand
that this can't always be possible.
Can we please align more with CBE. Why can we not
anchor spring break with them, third week in March.
Looks good.
Calgary Catholic
Staff Member
Calgary Catholic
Staff Member
Calgary Catholic
Staff Member
Calgary Catholic
Staff Member
Stay late as close to Christmas as possible. Extra day at
Christmas.
I like that Easter is one holiday and not broken up into a
Spring Break and an Easter Break.
Parent/Guardian
Like knowing dates - but need this to be downloadable!
Calgary Catholic
Staff Member
Parent/Guardian
pd days making long weekends
It looks great! Love that school starts after the long
weekend.
I would like to see more ATA/CSSD PD Days - more PD
Days as a whole - and my preference would be to go 5-10
more minutes a day and have 1/2 day off a week for PD.
Ensure that the calendar is listed as subscribe-able by
icalendar, etc. This feature used to be available. In this
electronic age, it seems ridiculous that this feature is not
automatically enabled, leaving families to manually enter this
in themselves.
try to seperate easter break and spring break
none.
District Calendar Feedback November 2016
What do you
represent?
What features of the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year What recommendations do you suggest for changes to
Round calendars do you like?
the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year Round
calendars?
Parent/Guardian
I like the short weeks/long weekends for the first few weeks
in September. It makes it much easier for my daughter to
transition into the new school year from the summer when
there is an extra day in the week to sleep in.
I do not understand the March 15/16 days off two weeks
away from the Spring Break. It would be awesome to have
those days link up with family day/teacher's convention or
spring break itself.
I love the proposed Christmas holiday schedule. It is great to I would move a PD day into the week of September 11 to
include the first week of January as a holiday.
mirror the previous years' calendars that included 3 short
weeks before the school year really kicked into high gear.
I like it when you cluster PD days with other holidays to make
a proper long weekend. It is much easier to plan for blocks of I wish it was possible to have a week off in February or early
time off than one-off days off.
March. We usually end up taking the week that bridges
Teachers Convention off; it isn't a lot of days out of the
I also like it when you schedule Mon/Fri days off as those are classroom but it would be nice if that was official.
the easiest days to arrange other child care for. Random
Tuesday-Thursday days off are difficult to accommodate.
Parent/Guardian
School starting after Labour day
Calgary Catholic
Staff Member
Parent/Guardian
students starting in Sept.
Why are two PD days required in May. Couldn't there just
be one and get rid of the other one all together? The
number of PD days seems excessive every year.
no changes- looks good
I like keeping to full days and not half days before vacations.
Early communications the timing of long weekends and
holidays, as has been proposed here, is very helpful for
planning.
A downloadable version of the calendar would be very
valuable to families.
It would be helpful if the calendar included the timing of Faith
Day and Teachers Convention.
Calgary Catholic
Staff Member
I like the general Christmas schedule and the start date for
school.
Parent/Guardian
I like the spring break being at Easter time, I like the
Christmas break the way it is planned.
Holy Thursday is a sacred day for Christians. I think Holy
Thursday is more important than another day at Christmas if
we are talking about faith formation within our catholic
school community.
Make an extended long weekend where possible with PD
days and PTI days.
District Calendar Feedback November 2016
What do you
represent?
What features of the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year What recommendations do you suggest for changes to
Round calendars do you like?
the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year Round
calendars?
Calgary Catholic
Staff Member
PD's with long weekends.
Parent/Guardian
Parent/Guardian
Parent/Guardian
Parent/Guardian
Calgary Catholic
Staff Member
Parent/Guardian
Please do not have any exams on the last day of school.
Makes it so difficult to do progress reports and get
everything finished effectively.
Spreading out the PD days/days off throughout the month.
Eliminate back-to-back PD days, i.e. Thurs/Fri (see March
Even if there is 2 in one month, it is greatly appreciated if it is 15/16) or Fri/Mon (see April 20/23). It is much harder for
spread out during the month.
working parents to take 2 days off at once.
Regular
Start date to be Sep 1st /2018 like this year instead of
starting it on the 5th.
I like that school starts after labour day.
Monday PD or Faith Days are difficult for working parents.
We have more options for child care on Fridays - seems
strange but any working parent I spoke with agrees. Shift
the Monday days off to Fridays.
Combining PD days with long weekends. I like that classes Prefer to have the last day of class only a half day, but this
run right up to Christmas.
may be difficult if exams are scheduled then.
Start time in September
more PD days
Great idea to start classes on Sept. 5th after Labour Day and
to have a full day on Dec. 21, 2017 and Mar. 29, 2018.
Continue offering late afternoon to evening Parent-Teacher
conferences the day prior to the actual Parent-Teacher
conferences as it may be difficult for some parents to get
time-off from work.
Any chance CCSD can accommodate more child care
facilities in their elementary schools especially to the new
schools? Can CCSD reach out to recreational facilities so
they can offer 1-day camps year-round on PD days and
Parent-Teacher conference days for Kindergarten to Gr. 9
students? For a total of 14 days of no classes, that's pretty
much the total number of vacation days for a regular
employee. Working parents would rather use their vacation
days for planned vacations rather than for school
disruptions. More chances of consideration if these facilities
are approached by a school board rather than by a few
parents.
District Calendar Feedback November 2016
What do you
represent?
What features of the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year What recommendations do you suggest for changes to
Round calendars do you like?
the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year Round
calendars?
Calgary Catholic
Staff Member
Starting classes after Labour Day
Parent/Guardian
Love having a shorter summer with more days off during the They both look good. Hoping for the year round one!
year. My kids are exhausted by December and especially by
June. June seems to be a waste of a month in school as kids
seem to be spent and teachers just try and get thru the
month as best they can. Then the kids are bored by August
and forget a lot of what they learned. Gives more opportunity
for family vacations in low seasons as well!
Calgary Catholic
Staff Member
All
Inconsistencies in Parent-Teacher Conferences. At some
high schools, parents/guardians can only meet the TAs
whereas for other highschools, parents/guardians can meet
all of the student’s teachers.
The last day of classes in June should be the day after the
last PAT exams. Including the PAT marks in the progress
report, then printing the progress reports for that last day is
a rush.
Business Services most everything
Recommend Civic Election day Oct 16, 2017 for a PD day.
This would facilitate easier planning and less impact to, and
remove concerns of, schools used as polling stations for the
election (as many as 60 schools have been used in prior
elections).
Our Lady of the
Liked the calendar, liked PD days attached to long
early dismissal on a day (Friday) for regular PD, PD on
Assumption
weekends, liked Christmas holiday being later than earlier,
Tuesdays after a long weekend instead of Fridays- staff are
like kids starting after long weekend and matching CBE, long fresher instead of on a Friday when it is the end of the week
weekend is better, overall decent calendar
and staff are more tired.
St. Marguerite
Parents that attended school council meeting all supported
No recommended changes.
School Council
draft calendar and did not recommend any changes.
St. Elizabeth Seton Year beginning after long weekend
Later conferences in September
Break for Christmas closer to the day.
Half day in June for teacher organization.
Move December 21 to half day
District Calendar Feedback November 2016
What do you
represent?
What features of the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year What recommendations do you suggest for changes to
Round calendars do you like?
the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year Round
calendars?
Monsignor Smith
We like that the students start after Labor Day. We also
Maintain the consistent approach you've been using and
prefer getting out closer to Christmas and having the time off continue to consult with parents.
after. Nice to see that it works to have Easter and spring
break as one.
I like getting out closer to Christmas.
I would like to work half day on December 22nd and only
until noon on Holy Thursday.
Looks terrific! The start up after the Labour day long
(one member) Only feedback I have is having Wednesday,
weekend is great. Well planned document
Nov.1 off. It’s very inconvenient to have a mid-weekday off
and a big disruption to the week. I don’t really see the
benefit of it. I think Monday, Oct. 30 or Friday, Nov. 3 would
be preferable.
Starting after Labour Day, Easter Break as our spring break Consideration for 1/2 day prior to Christmas and Easter and
add a few minutes of instructional time to each day
throughout the year?
St. Marguerite
Holy Spirit
Our Lady of the
Rosary
District Calendar Feedback November 2016
What do you
represent?
What features of the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year What recommendations do you suggest for changes to
Round calendars do you like?
the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year Round
calendars?
John Costello
We had a long discussion about the proposed Calendar for Looks good for 2017 - 2018
2017 – 2018. This calendar makes sense to us and we are
very pleased that there is an Easter Holiday and not a Spring
Break. We also like the fact we start after Labour Day as
many students do not attend when we start earlier.
We had a lot of discussion about Spring Break vs Easter
Holidays. First of all, with many senior teachers on staff we
do not recall the tradition of determining the type of break
being determined when Easter falls. We thought that the
idea of Spring Break was relatively new (5 – 10 yrs).
Our staff feels having a Spring Break is not respecting our
faith. Lent and Easter are the most special times during our
liturgical calendar. In working with parishes and students, we
constantly talk about the need for sacrifice and giving alms
during Lent. We talk about being focused on our faith life
and God. Taking holidays during this time does not support
our faith life. We can say it is our option of what we choose
to do during the holiday, but people want to enjoy their
holidays too. Somehow going to an all-inclusive during Lent
does not really seem like a sacrifice or focusing on God.
What are we teaching our students? It is okay to take a
break because it fits the calendar better. For the sake of a
week or two wait and take the break at Easter. If we truly
believe it is important to have Catholic education and we
want that right, we should respect our faith in our Calendar.
We talk about walking the talk and our staff does not feel a
Spring Break is walking the talk. We also feel recognizing
Lent and Easter is one of the differences of Catholic
Education and we want to make sure we are seen as being
different or what argument do we have against the merging
of the two publicly funded school boards.
District Calendar Feedback November 2016
What do you
represent?
What features of the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year What recommendations do you suggest for changes to
Round calendars do you like?
the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year Round
calendars?
John Costello
Really like starting after Labour Day. They like the Easter
Break not being during Lent. Many strong feelings of the
appropriateness of a spring break during Lent. We need to
recognize our Faith and the important connections, even if
this makes us different from the public schools, as we are.
No changes.
Mother Mary
Greene
St. Gabriel the
Archangel
Starting after Labour day weekend, no more half days
Start after Labour day weekend, Do not end as late in June
Starting after Labour Day
PD days connected to weekends
The dates for Christmas break
Faith Day in the middle of the week - difficult for child care
Teacher Convention--should to be during the same week as
Family Day
St. Joseph School Like that the first day is after Labor day.
Full day on the last day of school.
Perfect setup for August.
Possibility to find child care
PD Days/Faith days are combined to make longer weekend, 3 weeks at christmas can be long.
PATs right until the last day of school
St. Marguerite
The all like the draft calendar - especially students starting
N/A
after Sept. long weekend and also getting out for break later
in December.
St. Sebastian
-Classes start after the long weekend
The calendar was well thought out.
-Good placement of PD Days
-Like Christmas break
-Later date on parent/teacher interviews
Prince of Peace
Most seem logical for our staff
Holy Thursday — Concern for Holy Day of Obligation
St Cecilia
Lack of PD -- Extra Day of PD really needed.
What do our instructional days look like? Is there an
opportunity to add an extra PD Day as challenging to always
be lunched & learned.
Love the start date for students after labor day, love the Sept We will miss the "spring break" week that is separate from
22 conferences pushed back to get to know our students,
Easter weekend. The extra day off attached to the Easter
Like the PD spread out and almost monthly. We love the new long week feels like an extra restful week for renewal :)
calendar, thanks for all the hard work!
District Calendar Feedback November 2016
What do you
represent?
What features of the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year What recommendations do you suggest for changes to
Round calendars do you like?
the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year Round
calendars?
St Thomas
Aquinas
School starts after labor day-great for kids and families;
Christmas break after Christmas is great;
Easter is a bit confusing - no spring break; really long stretch
to June 29; Would be nice to recognize Remembrance Day
St. Ambrose
Most everything
Holy Thursday is a full day. That does snot recognize the
Catholic holiday.
Bring back half days, especially the last day of school year.
Move September conferences from Sept. 22 to 29.
St. Joan of Arc
Starting the kids back after the long weekend.
St. Rose of Lima
St. Clare
St. Clare
St Bonaventure
School
St Bonaventure
School Council
Monsignor Smith
School
St. Rose of Lima
Please do not plan to have any exams on the last day of
school. It makes it so difficult to produce progress reports
that day, after the exam, correcting exam and inputting the
marks.
starting after labour day and at the ending at the end of June no changes
September start, combining days off (like PD Days) with
none at this time
weekends
that September Conferences are later this year, also like the adding more PD days - it doesn't seem to be enough this
Christmas break schedule
year after so many last year, also, only 1 PD day with
support staff isn't enough
Continue to have students return after Labor Day.
None
Prefer late Christmas break.
Prefer students to return to school after Labor Day.
Still unsure about PT conferences before a PD day. Wait to
Continue with no half day dismissals.
see how attendance is effected this Nov/Dec 2016 PT
conference....
Our staff likes coming back after Labor Day, working until
No recommendations for changes at this time.
close to Christmas and returning later into January. Some
prefer two breaks for spring and Easter but understand the
rationale behind the placement each year. Overall, very
supportive of calendar.
Opening dates: September 5, 2016, January 8, 2017, April 9, November reporting period is too soon to have an in depth
2017.
evaluation of students. However, it is the best time to see
There is one extra teaching day with students (October 31,
parents regarding their children’s work habits, sports
2017)
schedules and teachers’ & parents’ expectations.
District Calendar Feedback November 2016
What do you
represent?
What features of the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year What recommendations do you suggest for changes to
Round calendars do you like?
the 2017-2018 draft Regular and/or Year Round
calendars?
St. Martin de
Porres
St. Isabella
Spring/Easter break together!
Bishop Grandin
Our staff discussed the highlights of the calendar and had
positive feedback on it all.
Like the student start date of Sept 5th
Like the overall calendar
Extra PD day attached to Family Day/Teacher's Convention
to make a 6 day weekend
No recommendations were shared.
More evening Parent Teacher Interview times
Have a meet the TA night in mid September for high schools
as well
We would like to see more consistency with regard to the
Easter break. Hopefully ensuring that we coordinate our
Easter break with Calgary Public. This would be beneficial to
those who have children in both systems and ensure that all
families have access to the programs offered through the
City of Calgary.
do not like Faith day in the middle of the week (Wed)
hard to have two days off in a row for working parents
St. Gregory
The calendar looks good and the explanations are helpful.
Our Lady of the
Assumption
school starting after long weekend
Easter Break
PD days on Friday of a long weekend
like full days, no 1/2 days
As a YEAR ROUND school we like the long breaks
None
All parents responded that they appreciated the late
Christmas Break
Love it, love the PD days attached to weekends to create
Will the Nov 11 day off be replaced elsewhere
long weekends, love the start up after Sept long weekend
Likes: Spring break with Easter and starting after Labour day Prefer Fridays over Mondays for Professional Days
Monsignor Neville
Anderson School
Council
St.Cecilia
St. Rita School
Council