A number of elementary school students marveling over their new backpacks noticed their principal Tameka Wright walking her 4-year-old son and 4- and 5-year-old granddaughters around the Pine Bluff Convention Center arena floor Saturday.
Like their young cohort, Wright’s kids were picking up school supplies at the Group Violence Intervention Unity Back-2-School Bash in preparation for an earlier-than-normal return to class in the Pine Bluff School District.
How early? The students’ first day is Wednesday, the day before August.
“Of course, we get a shorter summer break and everything has been fast-paced, but I’m excited about the new calendar change,” said Wright, who helms James Matthews Elementary School. “Every one of my students I’ve talked to, they’re excited and ready to come back to school. They’re excited about the breaks within the year. I am ready for the change and the challenges. I’m ready for it all.”
In January the PBSD board agreed unanimously to a year-round calendar that, so far, has seen teachers return for a three-day convocation at a local church, as McFadden Gymnasium at Pine Bluff High School is undergoing demolition. The 2024-25 school calendar will wind down with the students’ last day June 6 and a staff professional development day June 9.
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Students in the Watson Chapel and White Hall school districts will return to class Aug. 19 and finish the school year in May.
Many teachers agree with district officials’ reasoning that the year-round slate will help fight learning loss among students over a typical 11-week summer and help teachers avoid burnout during the school year. The burnout, along with student absenteeism, are real problems staff members face, Wright said.
“I love the idea,” said Kaylah Wright, a fourth-year kindergarten teacher at Broadmoor Elementary. “I don’t have a problem with it at all. I feel like it really will prevent burnout as far as the teachers and students. I’m excited for it. I’m ready. I was excited when we first voted for it, and I’m still excited. I think it’s a very bright idea.”
Longer breaks surrounding holidays are built into the new calendar. For example, Labor Day on Sept. 2 will mark the third of five days off in the PBSD’s first break of the school year. After that come breaks for fall (Oct. 21-25), Thanksgiving (Nov. 25-29), Christmas (Dec. 23-Jan. 3), Martin Luther King Day (Jan. 20), Presidents Day (Feb. 14-17), spring (March 19-28), Good Friday and Easter (April 18-21) and Memorial Day (May 23-27). Teachers won’t have to worry about taking a day off from class to visit a doctor or for other personal matters with the extended breaks, Adams pointed out.
But not all the households received the breaking news about the new schedule.
“A lot of parents were unaware, but when we explained to them how it would benefit our community and our teachers, then they were OK with it,” Wright said.
PBSD board member Ricky Whitmore Jr. said his children, ages 14 and 11, are excited about returning to school with their friends despite a summer break of only seven weeks.
“They’re a little iffy about what it’s going to look like with the new schedule,” he said. “They kind of feel like their summer is being short. But once they get in and understand that some of the breaks for them that were short are longer, I think they’ll get the understanding behind it.”
The Whitmores, he added, prepared for the quick turnaround by taking a break earlier than their usual end-of-school year time frame and “staying consistent” on what they learned from the previous school year as a new year approaches. Learning loss over the summer is something that has left Wright concerned.
“I’m a mother and a grandmother, and I see within my own household how that can affect our children because they are not reading,” she said. “They are not doing anything but playing video games and things like that.”
Dan Hooker’s son Jacob, 10, attends Friendship Aspire Academy. The elder Hooker only wishes Friendship would follow suit with the PBSD’s year-round plan.
“It gives them an opportunity to learn more all year-round, instead of having this long break and forgetting all this stuff and having to go back over it again,” Hooker said. “He loves being out of school, of course. It’s kind of hard to occupy his time.”
Jacob Hooker, 10, a student at Friendship Aspire Academy, poses with his father Dan. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)
From left: Ronesha Heard, Samaria Jackson, Vickie Hatley and Tasha Hurd of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. hand out backpacks of school supplies to students. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)