I support a "Traditional" School Calendar in District 225 that doesn't start school earlier in the summer.

I oppose sending kids back to school earlier. It seems like there are other options that would allow finals to be completed before winter break and those should be looked at as well

We should be starting after Labor Day, not in the middle of August.

I’m against that the school Year should start early in August. This is going a little bit out of control. Would love to change the system to have kids start the school after Labor Day.

I'm opposed to the collegiate calendar, especially if it results in a more cramped first semester. These students have enough pressure already without the added stress of a shortened semester.

I am strongly opposed to changing the current academic calendar to a collegiate calendar with an earlier start date and/or finals before winter break. I have seen this change take place with a family member at Prospect HS and have observed the problems that resulted. Here are just a few: 1.) The summer is shortened considerably, especially for those involved in fall sports or activities, limiting the students from growth opportunities at camps and with family summer traditions. 2.) The curriculum was taught at an extremely fast pace to meet the early test deadlines, adding more stress (especially in honors and AP classes) than necessary, and grades suffered. As a result, what might have been a more relaxing winter break was actually a time of spent exhaustion and regret that there hadn’t been more time for proper instruction and quality study time. I think many students are able to use winter break to recharge and prepare for their finals, returning to school more refreshed and better prepared for them. 3.) Students with extracurricular activities that traditionally take place before winter break (Choir, Orchestra, Band) had added workloads as they also had to prepare for finals during a heavy performance month. By the time break began many students were rundown and sick during what was supposed to be a relaxing time. If the intent of switching to a collegiate calendar is to provide the students a better experience more conducive to academics, I have not seen that happen at Prospect. It has created more stress for students and their families, as well as a rushed curriculum. If the intent is to align sports calendars with other schools who have made the switch, that’s not a good enough reason.

Please do not start the school year earlier. Aug 22 is early enough.

Please do not have school start any earlier than Aug 23rd. If it were my choice, they would start day after Labor Day. Kids deserve a summer when weather is still wa

Hi jack

Please start school later!!!

I oppose having school start in mid August. Not only would this negatively impact the high school students, but the trickle down effect to the community is detrimental as well. We rely as a community on high school students as camp counselors, lifeguards etc. The community will lose money with this change, as our public pools and camps will be forced to close up shop in late July, thus driving vital business to surrounding communities. Please reconsider this decision.

Pls do so

I oppose this change. I have one GBS graduate and one rising junior. I've been through several rounds of finals as well as AP exams. I once thought it would be better to have finals before the break and have changed my opinion after watching my teens use some quiet down time over break to review and catch up if needed. This has NEVER ruined their break, but rather provided a calmer, focused approach to finals after the holidays instead of the middle of the crazy holiday crunch. High school students are not living in the same environment as college students. They are not by surrounded by a community that is organized around final exams. They still have sports, family events, holiday arts programs and it is harder to focus on finals in this environment. Also, I do not agree that pushing younger teens to forgo the month of August is a good idea. They need down time in the already shortened summer. If 7-10 more days of AP class instruction impacts their AP test performance, they were likely not prepped enough to take the AP credit in lieu of the class.

please no school

I don’t want school to start early

I am very much opposed to starting school any earlier in August. Winter break is a good time for students to refresh and take a breather before they return to school for one week of review followed by finals the second week back. December is already a very busy time for most families and finals prior to winter break will only exacerbate a typically hectic time of year, contributing to student stress levels. We only enjoy prime summer weather for a very short time in the Chicago area and why shorten our children's time to be outdoors or family vacation time any more?

School starts early enough already -- let's not make it start earlier. It already messes with trying to schedule family vacations vs camps, etc...

Students already have too little unstructured free time to spend with family and friends due to excessive homework and overscheduling. Our school year calendar begins earlier than many others, so beginning earlier limits opportunities for family vacations even more. Other school districts start later and still find a way have finals before Winter Break, so our district can, too. Or, alternatively, begin later and have finals later in January instead of right after Winter Break (which is not much of a break if finals are hanging over your head).

That is the prime week for family vacations in summertime. With overnight camp as well as travel sports, the week of Aug 12 was always during our “regroup” family trips. Family time vs. school time??? Both equally important to me. There has to be another way.

I have not seen a compelling reason to send the kids back earlier and am opposed to this. Kids need to have time to be kids and enjoy the summer!! Starting right after Labor Day would be best.

This is a terrible idea. December is busy enough without adding the stress of finals. My current high school student did not spend all of break studying, and it was much better for him to have the time to review material without worrying about tests and papers due at the same time. Finals in January were much less stressful than the finals in June since at the end of the school year, teachers were introducing material up until the last minute and there was not much review. The weather in June is horrible, and we are robbing our kids of warm summer weather that we wait all year to enjoy. This makes zero sense for so many reasons. Starting school LATER after Labor Day makes more sense.