Good Morning, DSST Team,
I’m writing today to share our long-awaited 2023-24 academic calendar!
As I hope you’ll see from the calendar (and from the changes outlined below), many of next year’s calendar adjustments are a direct response to your feedback. We know these adjustments are an important way to show that DSST can and will work to prioritize the needs of our staff while fulfilling our commitment to students and their families. We are grateful for your feedback and excited to highlight the following key changes:
- Semesters: The calendar reflects our shift to two semesters, each with two quarters (note: you’ll see the dates for our semesters and quarters on the left of the calendar). Moving to semesters better aligns us with our district and national partners. This allows for easier adoption of external resources, better-aligned assessment calendars (hello ANET!) and smoother transitions for students moving in and out of DSST. While we know that the shift to semesters will require more work in the short term, we are looking forward to supporting you through this transition in the coming months. Please look for an updated Assessment Calendar from our assessment team later this spring.
- Full week of Thanksgiving and continued Fall Break: We heard loud and clear that the full week of Thanksgiving was needed to be able to rest and recharge as well as travel more flexibly to see family. The 23-24 calendar includes a full week of Thanksgiving vacation while keeping our four-day weekend for Fall Break.
- Later returning staff start: We were able to move our returning staff start date from Monday to Thursday, Aug. 3, giving you more time during summer to rest, spend time with family and prepare for the school year.
You can find additional FAQs linked here. As a teacher at DSST, February often felt like one of the tougher months of the school year. I hope the longer daylight and warmer weather give you that extra push you might need to get to the end of our very last Trimester 2. Thank you for everything you continue to do to support our students day in and day out.
Eric Benzel
Deputy Chief of Schools
