Sprouts Calendar Creation Guidelines

When making the calendar for the center, there are many things that must be considered. These are the basic guidelines considered when choosing closed and inservice days.

CLOSURES

We must be fully closed 15 days or LESS in order to receive ELRC funding for children on closed days. Any day greater than 15 in the ELRC fiscal year will be counted as a "non-paid closure." As of March 2023, that is June 30-July 1. This 15-day limit includes unplanned closures such as snow days. Private pay families may be charged, but we receive no tuition for subsidized children. There is no regulatory limit or minimum for our "school year" or "summer" session other than considering paid and unpaid closures annually with ELRC.

We close center-wide for national holidays (or their day observed if it is a weekend). This includes:

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Memorial Day
Independence Day
Labor Day
Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Day
New Year's Day

Other days we typically close the whole center:

At least a portion of Holy Week (Thursday through Easter Monday)
Fall Election Day (First Tuesday in November, as long as it is after November 1)
Black Friday
The time between Christmas and New Years Day

The Head Start school year must consist of exactly 170 days. Because of this, there are several In-Service days built into the school year for that room. We have generally utilized the following guidelines:

Start the school year the Tuesday after Labor Day (generally a week after the other class)
Parent Teacher Conferences in October (2 days)
Monday After Thanksgiving
Convenient Day in February
Parent Teacher Conferences in March (2 days)
Extend Spring Break (Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week)
Spring Election Day (3rd Tuesday in May)
Extend Memorial day weekend (the Friday before), as long as it is not too close to the spring election. If that happens, it would be a convenient day between March and May.

As for unplanned closures such as snow days, there must be a makeup day for Head Start, but for the whole center there is no need. UNLESS the center would like to adjust their 15 paid closures and remove a closure. Delays and early dismissals do not count as closures for ELRC or Head Start. Inservice days must have an opt-in option for ELRC families that are in the Head Start class to either add them to the other classroom or to keep the other class open with fewer students in order for it to be considered an "open" day with ELRC.

SESSION START AND END DATES

The school year always starts on a Monday and Ends on a Friday for ease of billing. It typically starts the week before Labor day (around August 27), and ends the first Friday of June 1 (around June 3). Head Start day count may effect this decision. Summer session starts the Monday after Graduation, and ends the Friday before the Fall school year starts.

Two preschool age rooms run during the School Year, and there is one preschool age and one school age room over summer. While the school age room is K-8, there is a division of K-2 and 3-8 cohorts within that room.

There is an assumption that the first week or so of the school age room will be lightly attended as school districts have their last day of school. If there is a high attendance the first week of summer session for school age, there may be logistical issues related to getting the classroom environment ready.

CALENDAR DEVELOPMENT AND COUNTING DAYS

A goggle sheet to assist with counting Head Start days as well as center-wide closures can be found here:

School Year Days Calendar Counter

Each year, a new sheet within the document can be made in order to ensure that we maintain closure and in-service requirements. The correct days according to days of the week must be entered manually once the template sheet is copied. Paid (and unpaid) closures must be entered into Pelican so that they are registered with ELRC. This includes changes mid-year for snow days. The Head Start calendar must be approved by COTRAIC.