Georgetown County schools to begin year-round modified calendar in 2023
GEORGETOWN COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – The first-day bell will soon ring for the 8,000 students in the Georgetown County School District (GCSD) as they head back to class for the 2023-24 school year.
But there is one big change for both students and teachers this year. It’s an early start date because the school calendar is very different – Georgetown County schools will operate under a year-round modified calendar.
It’s a big change for the school district as they become the first in the Lowcountry to use the new schedule. “It’s not what you would traditionally think of with year-round. Students still go to school 180 days. Teachers still work 190 days. All of our principals still work 240 days,” said Georgetown County School District Superintendent Keith Price.
The Georgetown County School District is one of 64 – out of the state’s 73 school districts – now operating under the year-round modified calendar.
“By law, you can’t start school before the third Monday in August, unless you’re on a year-round modified calendar. There are really four key differences between this calendar versus a traditional calendar. One is that we start earlier in August. We start the first week in August rather than the third week in August. One is when we end, we end the last week in May, rather than the first week of June, and we have two extra weeklong breaks, one in October and one in February, everything else is the same,” Superintendent Price explained of the new schedule.
Superintendent Price is beginning his fourth year as leader of the Georgetown County School District and said another key difference is for middle and high school students.
“They will actually end semester one now before winter break; so, before on a traditional calendar, they didn’t end semester one until about mid-January. So, they come back from winter break and have to pick up where they left off learning and prepare for an exam. Now, they can do their exams before they leave before winter break. When they return, they will start a new semester two,” he said.
The district held community engagement meetings and conducted a survey before implementing the new calendar. Parents, students, teachers, and members of the community overwhelmingly approved of the changes.
“Early when we were discussing this to see if there was any interest, people saw the words year-round and were like no, no we’re not interested in that, but that’s why we wanted to do some awareness campaigns to show what a modified calendar is and is not,” said Superintendent Price.
Price said that some of the pros of this new year-round calendar mean summer is shortened by a few weeks, which he said will reduce the summer learning slide. A week off at the end of every nine-week period gives teachers and students a chance to take a break and get back on track.
He hopes this will help retain teachers as well and feels they will be able to target students who need additional help.
“With these weeks what we’re doing in Georgetown County, we’re trying to build in a couple of academic support days along the way. So, our plan is to target students who are not being academically successful and invite them to come in and do some remediation- make-up work,” said Price.
The superintendent says one of the challenges is some students see it as less time off during the summer. “We’re certainly cognizant of the fact that. We are in a high tourism area, so there is a challenge with that. Another con is when you have other districts around you on different school calendars than you are, it presents challenges,” he said.
Also big for the district this year: for the first time they will have five magnet schools, thanks to a nearly $15,000,000 grant.
“We applied for a magnet school assistance program grant two years ago, and we learned last fall we were one of 19 recipients in America to earn the MSAP grant, so we will be starting five magnet programs this fall in our five schools in the Carvers Bay attendance area,” he said. “That’s Plantersville Elementary, Browns Ferry Elementary, Pleasantville Elementary, Carvers Bay Elementary, and Carvers Bay High.”
He went on to say, “Lots of new programs, and opportunities that we are going to be bringing to these students and the teachers at those schools for the first time. This grant is allowing us to bring opportunities to the students in this area otherwise we would not be able to do.”
With all the changes, Superintendent Price said the district is excited to begin this new chapter.
“Now we’re moving forward. Everyone enjoys a fresh start, coming in with new goals and new initiatives, and new priorities. Our teachers, our administrators, all of our school employees are ready to make this an absolutely wonderful year,” he said. “Fresh starts are always exciting, and we’re ready to get going.”
The first day for students in the Georgetown County School District is Thursday, August 3rd.
