After consulting parents and staff, the Newberg School District made some tweaks to its 2014-2015 school year calendar.

Most not­able in the new format was a full week break for students at Thanks­giving, during which time teachers would focus on training, preparation and grading.

Based on early returns, the move has proven to be a hit with just about everybody, especially and unsurprisingly among students.

“Especially being a senior and having our senior projects and everything that we have to do, having this week is perfect because we can catch up,” Newberg High School senior Christine Gossen said. “We can have a few minutes to just breathe because a lot of people have just taken the SAT or are preparing to take another SAT or the ACT. It’s just nice to have this time to study and prepare and also be able to relax.”

District administrators proposed the new break format to kill two birds with one stone. First, by eliminating classes, it was an easy way to address the worst student attendance days of the year. Second, it gave teachers separate time for professional development and prep work.

Chehalem Valley Middle School principal Karen Pugs­ley said the move made sense because the district is no longer at odds with the many parents who take their children out of class to travel for Thanksgiving.

The move was designed to not reduce overall instructional time for the year, but could possibly produce a net gain in actual classroom time if student attendance for the rest of the year, including right before the break, remains at normal levels.

Bethany Stoller, an eighth grade reading and writing teacher at CVMS, reported some families were able to travel much sooner, even as early as the Friday before break, potentially saving money on travel costs and also avoiding the congestion of traveling closer to Thanks­giving day.

One possible downside for families, however, could be having to provide day care for young children who were not in school while their parents still had to work a regular schedule.

Pugsley said she believes the new format is an important commitment on the part of the district to give teachers time to train and learn together, especially as everyone in the district continues to prepare for the new Smarter Balance state testing coming up in the spring.

For in­stance, Che­ha­lem Valley scheduled two half days of professional development, including training on the “close reading” technique students are being in­tro­duced to in preparation for the shift to Common Core Standards (CCS) and corresponding state assessment. Teachers then had prep time in the afternoon on both days.

Elementary teachers in the district, on the other hand, did all of their professional development on one day and all of their prep time the next.

District literacy coaches Barb Katts and Pam Sears said they both appreciated the new format, especially compared to the previous schedule of hosting professional development days immediately after winter break.

“We’ve tried other things before and I really like this,” Katts said. “It’s earlier in the year, which is a good thing. People can try things between now and Christmas that we taught.”

CVMS assistant principal Casey Petrie said that teacher training has often been pushed to the margins of the school schedule, but blocking off time that is buffered from classes could improve the efficacy of professional development.

“Just the mood was different and people’s level of engagement, knowing they came back from a weekend and weren’t going to have to teach,” Petrie said. “They were just a little bit more willing to jump in and do some of the hard work.”

Pugsley also appreciated the district’s message to teachers that there would be zero flexibility as far as their attendance Nov. 25 and 26 and she reported that 100 percent of her staff participated.

The new format, however, did afford teachers some new flexibility for the week, as Nov. 26 was designated as a “trade day,” which teachers can take off in exchange for volunteering after school hours for school functions and extracurricular activities.

Sears said that having professional development scheduled right after winter break has negatively affected her vacation plans in the past, so she’s happy for the new format on a personal level, too.

Administrators did not receive a trade day, but could take the day off if they flexed their schedule to compensate. Pugsley said it showed the district values balance between work and family.

“I’ve never had a Wednesday before a Thanksgiving where I could go shopping and do the holiday work,” Pugsley said. “It’s always been just outrageously overwhelming.”

It is yet to be seen how the new format will affect overall attendance, which research shows can play a large role in student success and high school graduation rates, but it will also be interesting to see if students return refreshed and ready for the quick three-week jaunt before winter break and then the end of the semester a few weeks after that.

Petrie, for one, said she believes it’s possible that it will, likely echoing a common sentiment among the student body.

“I don’t hear anybody complaining,” NHS senior Craig Beecher said. “At first it was a little stressful having to get all your work turned in, but now it’s just really relaxing.”

Additionally, Sears said she thinks it could be that teachers will also return to school better prepared to do their work.

“December is always a hard month anyway,” she said. “So hopefully the teachers will be prepared to hit it hard and bam, punch it out.”

Written by: Seth Gordon