Media Contact
Katy Payne she/her
360-764-0201
The intention of implementing a Modified Calendar is to increase learning opportunities for students. In the Winlock School District, those extra learning opportunities are resulting in learning recovery.
In the 2022–23 school year, Winlock implemented the new calendar, which adds three weeklong “intersessions” throughout the year and shortens the summer break from 11 weeks to 8 weeks. With this extra time for learning opportunities, preliminary data is showing improvements in assessment scores for elementary school students in the district.
“The students that attended all three intersessions, their test scores are definitely higher than the average,” said Michelle Jeffries, Special Programs Director for the Winlock School District. “One went from early second [grade] to late third [grade], so they got from below grade level to at grade level. … It was very rewarding to see that these kids are really making good progress.”
Jeffries acknowledged, though, that the sample size for this data is small. The Winlock School District, located approximately 40 miles south of Olympia, had 865 students enrolled during the 2022–23 school year. About half — 445 students — are elementary school students. And of those elementary school students, 192 attended at least one intersession over the course of the year.
Winlock’s Modified Calendar, part of the Balanced Calendar Initiative supported in part by OSPI’s federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds, will be in place for two more school years. More comprehensive data will be available after the third year of implementation concludes in spring 2025.
The benefits of the Modified Calendar extend beyond improved academics for students. District staff and families have reported that they appreciate being able to use intersessions both for expanded educational opportunities like field trips or for needed breaks.
Winlock families weigh in
Mindy Turner is a Winlock parent who operates a daycare and has a daughter in 7th grade and two sons in 4th grade. She said the Modified Calendar “worked out pretty well.”
“It makes it where the summer is a little bit shorter, and then that helps me a lot for day care,” Turner said. “It gives the kids a little less absence, so then they’re not away as long, so it’s not as shocking to be out.”
Her children didn’t attend the intersessions, so they liked having extra time off, Turner said.
Carolyn McCarson, whose granddaughter is in first grade at Winlock, said her family loved the intersessions. Her granddaughter attended all three.
“She already likes school, but the change in routine seemed to refresh her interest when she was getting tired of getting up for school every morning,” McCarson said. “Her mother has also seen how the sessions were good for keeping her daughter’s interest.”
Hannah Cassara, who said she’s involved with the parent-teacher group and youth sports at Winlock, said she’s still on the fence about the Modified Calendar. Her daughter, who’s in third grade, wished summer was longer.
“Our family enjoyed the week off in October and the week off in February, and that’s a nice, welcome little break,” Cassara said. “A week off here, a week off there doesn’t feel the same as your typical longer summer.”
Educators adjust to new calendar
Some of Winlock’s teachers and staff were also on the fence about the Modified Calendar when it was first presented. Ashlie Auckland, Principal of Winlock’s elementary school, acknowledged that not everyone would be happy about the new calendar.
“Change is difficult — not only for teachers, but students and parents and everybody,” Auckland said.
Tori Nelson, who teaches physical education at Winlock, was initially concerned about having a shorter summer. Coming into the start of the 2023–24 school year, though, she said having 8 weeks off instead of 11 was still “a good chunk of time.”
Redistributing those summer weeks to intersessions throughout the year ended up meeting Nelson’s needs. She was sick for both the October and February intersessions, and decided to use the April intersession as a break.
“They were timed well for me because that’s 8 sick days that I was able to save,” Nelson said. “Those are the times of the year that my body is like, Okay, you’ve done a lot and you need to calm down.”
Both Nelson and Auckland observed that teachers benefited from having more frequent breaks.
“Their wellness is just as important to us as our students’ academics,” Auckland said. “If we don’t have teachers who are mentally healthy, physically healthy, then it naturally impacts our students.”
Auckland added that both teachers and staff were able to use intersessions to seek out professional learning opportunities like attending conferences.
The teachers who opted to teach during the intersessions, according to both Auckland and Jeffries, enjoyed teaching subjects they’re passionate about but don’t always have time for during the regular school year. They also got to take students on field trips to experience things they might not otherwise get the opportunity to do.
“Having more … fun academics and that passion teaching, I think it gives teachers and students both that excitement for school again,” Jeffries said.
Over the next two years of Modified Calendar implementation, Auckland hopes that excitement continues.
“I want us to continue to inspire our kids,” Auckland said. “That’s going to build up the climate and culture of our school, which is what we definitely want. Then it bleeds out into our community.”
OSPI followed the Winlock School District throughout the 2022–23 school year as it implemented its Modified Calendar. This story concludes the series.
Read the other stories in the series:
- Winlock School District Kicks Off the School Year with a New Calendar (September 2022)
- Winlock School District Tests New Calendar with First Intersession (October 2022)
This story was written by Chelsea Embree, Director of Publications and Engagement Strategy at OSPI. You can contact the Communications Team at commteam@k12.wa.us.