Hello Howard Community,
I hope you have all had a great summer break so far and that you are all doing well! I truly miss seeing our Howard Dragons and I am excited for the school year that lies ahead! 🙂
Here is the link to the suggested supply list on our blog (in case you were looking for it)… https://howard.dearbornschools.org/classroom-supply-lists/
Also, please note, last week, the district posted some TENTATIVE important information. This includes potential plans for early release Tuesdays, Kindergarten soft start will only be one week instead of two weeks, and Open House will now take place before the start of the school year. Please read the entire post for the TENTATIVE INFORMATION AND TENTATIVE SCHOOL YEAR CALENDAR (as there are some changes from what previous years looked like). The next board meeting is August 21st; we hope to have more finalized information at that time.
FOR YOUR PLANNING PURPOSES, PLEASE NOTE THAT THE OPEN HOUSE WILL BE AT HOWARD ON AUGUST 25TH FROM 1:30-3:00 PM. STUDENTS AND PARENTS WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO MEET THEIR CLASSROOM TEACHER! (More details will be shared prior to Open House).
Please read the press release below!
Thank you,
Mirvat Sabbagh
Press Release #01 – District releases tentative 2023-24 school calendar
Press Release #01 – District releases tentative 2023-24 school calendar
Press Release 01/Aug. 7, 2023
Dearborn Public Schools is releasing its tentative 2023-24 school calendar this week with some significant changes for the coming school year.
The calendar has not received final approval. It is included in a tentative agreement recently reached between the Dearborn Federation of Teachers and the district. The teachers are voting on the entire contract, including the calendar, on Aug. 10 and 11. The Board of Education could then approve the contract at its next P-12 meeting on Aug. 21.
The district does not generally release the calendar until it is approved and even then sometimes needs to make changes. However, given that school starts later this month, there was more urgency in releasing the calendar to allow parents and staff time to plan for the changes. The most up-to-date calendar information can always be found on the district’s website at http://www.dearbornschools.org/calendars.
As previously announced, the first day of school will be Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. It is again a half day. New this year is that school open houses will be held on Aug. 25, the Friday before school starts. Each school will select what time that afternoon to hold its open house.
For kindergarten students, the soft start was shortened from what was previously announced. Kindergarten students will now only have half days from Aug. 28 through Sept. 5.
The biggest change this year is how the district will handle professional development time.
Monthly late starts and most half days are being replaced with early releases. On all but the first and last Tuesdays, students will be dismissed 90 minutes earlier from school. Staff will use this time for professional development and other school-related tasks. While initially a large change, the district hopes parents will find the set schedule easier than dealing with the disruption of seven late start dates and more frequent half days. The new calendar has only five half days including the first and last days of school, Jan. 8 for all students, Oct. 27 only for elementary and Jan. 9 only for middle and high schools.
School lunches will still be served on early release Tuesdays.
Days off school on the new calendar include Oct. 3, Nov. 7 and Feb. 27. Each of those Tuesdays will also be used for professional development for teachers. Nov. 7 and Feb. 27 are also election days, and many of the district’s schools are used as polling places. (Dearborn does not have any elections scheduled for November this year, but Dearborn Heights does. Feb. 27 is the presidential primary.)
Many other items in the calendar will be familiar to parents, including a four day weekend over Labor Day, three days off at Thanksgiving, two weeks off for the holidays, a week of spring break at the end of March, and April 9 and 10 off for Eid. The last day of school will be June 7, 2024. As part of an earlier than usual end of school, the mid-winter break in February and Memorial Day weekend were shortened to three day weekends with only the Mondays off.
Another academic change this year will be a realignment of marking periods so that the first semester ends before the holiday break in December. High school students will take their first semester finals before break. All students will return on Jan. 8 to a half day as the second semester starts.
School start times and end times this year will remain the same except for early release Tuesdays. Those times include:
- High school – 7:50 a.m. to 2:45 p.m., half day ending at 10:55 a.m., early release Tuesdays ending at 1:15 p.m.
- Middle school and K-8 campuses – 8:25 a.m. to 3:20 p.m., half day ending at 11:30 a.m., early release Tuesdays ending at 1:50 p.m. This includes all of McCollough Elementary and Salina Elementary and Intermediate.
- Elementary School – 9:00 a.m. to 3:55 p.m., half day ending at 12:05 p.m., early release at 2:25 p.m.
- Lowrey School – Elementary 8:15 a.m. to 3:10 p.m., half day ending at 11:20 a.m. and early release ending at 1:40 p.m.. Middle school 8:10 a.m. to 3:05 p.m., half days ending at 11:15 a.m., early release at 1:35 p.m.
- Early College at HFC 8:00 a.m. to 2:25 p.m., half day ending at 10:45 a.m. and early release at 12:55.
- The Heights Campus: DCMST, MBCC and Magnet High – 8:05 a.m. to 2:25 p.m., half day ending at 10:45 a.m., early release at 12:55 p.m. STEM Middle School 7:50 a.m. to 2:45 p.m., half day ending at 10:55 a.m. and early release at 1:15 p.m.
Print-friendly versions of the calendar will be available at the district’s website by scrolling to the bottom of the page at https://dearbornschools.org/calendars/. Parents are reminded to check with their child’s school for important events and activities unique to their school and not appearing on the district calendar.
Calendar documents
District calendar graphic – TENTATIVE Aug. 7, 2023
Kindergarten soft start dates 2023 TENTATIVE (updated Aug. 7, 2023)
Parent teacher conferences & marking periods TENTATIVE Aug. 7, 2023
Open House Aug. 25, 2023 flyer
by Katie Hetrick on August 7, 2023