2022-2023 and 2023-2024 Academic Calendars Approved

The 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic school year calendars were approved by the Ames School Board on Monday, March 7, 2022. This year, the board approved two calendars as developed by a 21 member Calendar Committee with the intention of continuing to approve two academic school calendars each year on a rolling basis. 

Calendar Committee – The proposed calendars were developed by a committee composed of District administration, teachers, community members, union leadership, parents, students, and building leadership, and led by Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jeff Hawkins. Over the course of several months, the committee drafted 5 separate calendar options based on identified priorities that included two weeks at winter break, the identification of major religious observances, aligning staff professional development days across the District, and a longer summer break, among others. 

The approved calendar maximized the priorities of the committee and extends the pre-service schedule for teachers including the addition of the Little Cyclone Teacher Academy, an optional teacher in-service opportunity. The instructional day is consistent across all buildings with 6 hours and 35 minutes of instructional time each day. This adds up to 1,120 instructional hours with a relatively even split between semesters.

Start date – School will officially begin on Wednesday, August 24, 2022, for most grades across the District. This includes 1st – 5th grade, as well as 6th grades and all other middle school students who are new to the District. This is also the start date for the entire Ames High School. Over the past several years, this has been an orientation day for freshman, but with the new high school, all grades at Ames High School will start on this day. 

Here is a breakdown of the staggered start dates across the district:

• August 24 – 1st-5th grades. Orientation for 6th grade and all AMS students new to the District, as well as all Ames High students.
• August 25 – Classes begin for all grades EK-12
• September 6 – Preschool 

 Other Dates to Highlight:

• November 24 – 25 – Thanksgiving Break (early dismissal on November 23)
• December 21 – January 3 – Winter Break (classes resume January 4)
• January 16 – Dr. Martin Luther King Day (no classes)
• March 13 – 17 – Spring break
• May 28 – Ames High Commencement
• May 31 – Last day of classes

Professional Development / Teacher Work Days

Professional development days will be aligned across the District starting in the 2022-23 school year. Elementary schools will no longer have the Wednesday early out weekly schedule. 

Parent/Teacher Conferences

The Calendar Committee will next be looking at the parent/teacher conference schedule and how to best utilize those opportunities. The calendar currently reflects that they will take place in November and March, but the details are yet to be determined. 

Start and Dismissal Times

One of the next notable tasks that will result based on the work of the Calendar Committee is to look at whether any potential adjustments to the start and stop times across our District will be adjusted for next year. Because the length of the school day is changing slightly for both elementary and secondary levels, start and stop times must be adjusted. This presents an opportunity to determine if now is a time to make changes to elementary and secondary start and stop times order. We anticipate sharing a more detailed proposal after Spring Break with our community before a decision is reached.