Greenville County Schools in Greenville, SC proposed a change to the 2023-24 school year calendar In November and asked for feedback from parents and staff. They announced that results of that feedback and the new 2023-24 school calendar.
New School Year Calendars Released
UPDATE: December 14, 2022
Greenville County Schools has announced that they have changed the 2023-24 school year calendar. Instead of starting school the second week of August, they will now begin August 8, 2023. The school year will end before Memorial Day Weekend on May 22, 2024.
In an email to media, GCS said: “The calendars reflect a shift to allow the fall academic semester to end prior to Winter Break. This adjustment will be academically beneficial to students, and the feedback received regarding this shift was extremely positive, with 74% of respondents in favor. Midterms, finals and state testing will be completed before students leave for winter break, rather than in January when they return to school after an extended break. “
The 2023-24 School Year Calendar
For the first time, the District is releasing two years of school calendar. Parents can see the 2024-25 school year calendar as well.
GCS said that releasing calendars two years in advance will be the new norm in efforts to help families plan further out. The 2025-26 student calendar will be determined in Fall 2023.
To learn about the feedback GCS received from parents and to view the 2023-24 and 2024-25 student calendars, click here.
Original Post (November 2022)
In a 53-second video, Greenville County Schools outlines their proposed changes to the 2023-24 school year calendar.
They are asking for the change in order to get all the state-required testing done before the beginning of Winter Break instead of doing it in early January when students and teachers return to the classroom.
The Proposed Changes
GCS proposes that the first day of the 2023-24 school year would move a week earlier to Tuesday, August 8, 2023 instead of the usual mid-August start date.
The end of the school year would be May 22, 2024, which is before Memorial Day Weekend. Usually, the end of the school year is the first week in June.
Other school districts in South Carolina have already made this change. This current school year, 2022-23, several districts in our area including Oconee, Pickens, a handful in Greenwood, Abbeville, and McCormick, start in early August and even late July.
Feedback is Welcome
Greenville County Schools said that feedback is welcome on these new proposed changes. Parents can email the district at calendar@greenville.k12.sc.us. They are taking feedback through December 1, 2022.
For parents who are planners and have already booked next summer’s vacation, this could certainly hamper their plans. Other feedback we’ve seen is that parents feel that the first week of August is still in the middle of summer. Yet others think that this is a fantastic change because it’s so hard to get students back into the swing of the things right after the two-week winter break in order to take exams.
The other thing to consider is that many private schools follow the GCS calendar so those schools would likely be affected by this change as well.
Whatever you have to say, send an email over to district and let them know before December 1, 2022.
What do you think GCS should do?
