By Tanner Kent
Free Press Staff Writer
SLEEPY EYE —
By all accounts, Monday looked and felt like any other first day of school in Sleepy Eye.
Principals and teachers arrived early. The school grounds were mown and primped. Gloria Nachreiner snapped first-day photos for the yearbook while arrivals were greeted by a balloon bouquet and welcome message from the parent-teacher association.
Even though Sleepy Eye was starting classes a full two weeks earlier than nearly every public school district in the state, ninth-grader Carly Jensen said nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
“Not really,” she said. “It just feels like school.”
Same for choir teacher Joe Kent, who did mention the earlier start date will give him more time with students before their first performances.
Otherwise, he said, it “feels like normal to us.”
Sleepy Eye is among the 25 schools in mostly southwestern Minnesota to embark on a three-year agreement to share an early-start calendar and collaborate on raising student achievement. After submitting an application detailing the merits and benefits of the plan, the state Department of Education granted approval for the consortium to begin school Aug. 23 this year.
Since 1985, Minnesota law dictates public school districts (charter schools not included) cannot begin classes until after Labor Day. In an effort to preserve youth participation in the State Fair and accommodate a prime weekend for the tourism and resort industries, the Minnesota Department of Education grants few exceptions to the rule beyond those given to districts with construction projects of $400,000 or more.
Last year, a similar pre-Labor Day plan submitted to the state on behalf of 13 southwestern school districts (not including Sleepy Eye) was rejected. This year’s plan was expanded to include more districts and more collaboration among them.
Sleepy Eye Supt. John Cselovszki said he is excited about the potential impacts on staff development and student achievement.
“We’re so glad to be part of the ‘25,’” Cselovszki said of the partnership which includes such districts as Worthington, Marshall, Springfield and Comfrey.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for our students to get an extra kick in their education.”
With the earlier start date, he said the district will move about 10 instruction days from the end of the year to the beginning, thereby giving students more classroom time before state tests in April and May. The calendar will be further correlated to match the start dates for most of the higher education institutions in the region.
Furthermore, Cselovszki said the 25 participating districts will collaborate on staff development and achievement initiatives. He said the consortium held its first training for professional learning communities last week and there are plans for teachers throughout the region to meet as often as weekly to analyze student assessment data and curriculum.
“It shows that our teachers are willing to do whatever it takes for student achievement,” Cselovszki said.
Only Virginia and Michigan have similar laws against starting school before Labor Day while states such as Wisconsin, Iowa and North Carolina require school to begin after Sept. 1.
Sophomore Michelle Santos is a first-year student in Sleepy Eye after moving from a school in Mission, Texas, a state that requires school to begin on the fourth Monday of August.
For her, classes would have started on Aug. 23 either way. The only difference, she said, is classroom comfort.
“It’s very, very hot (in Mission),” Santos said. “This is nice compared to that.”
