With the arrival of spring, I wanted to share an important update regarding our school calendar. This time of year includes better weather, longer days, and busier schedules. We would like to make sure that everyone is informed about key dates and changes so that you are aware and can plan ahead.

This year, our board-approved academic calendar consists of 1094.5 hours of instruction as defined by the Iowa Department of Education. We are required by code to have a minimum of 1080 hours of instruction in a year. With this winter’s weather, we missed 19 instructional hours. This puts us at 1075.5 instructional hours – or 4.5 hours below the minimum required. By law and policy, the Southeast Polk School Board has complete discretion regarding how this time is made up.

At their regular meeting last night (4/10/25), the Southeast Polk School Board discussed options and voted to make up instructional hours by changing the last Wednesday in April and the first two Wednesdays in May into full student instructional days. This adds two instructional hours per Wednesday and puts us in compliance with state code requirements. The Wednesdays that will change to regular full days are:

• Wednesday, April 30, 2025
• Wednesday, May 7, 2025
• Wednesday, May 14, 2025

This will allow us to keep Wednesday, May 28, 2025, which is already scheduled for a full day, as the final day of the school year for students.

As we head into the home stretch of the school year, we encourage all our students to finish strong. These final weeks are a time to be proud of how far they have come, stay focused on their goals, and give their best effort as they wrap up the year. I am confident that with your encouragement and their hard work, they will finish the year on a high note.

Sincerely,

Dirk Halupnik
Superintendent

Click here to see the updated 2024-2025 Academic Calendar: REVISED-24-25-School-Calendar

Para leer este mensaje en español, por favor haga clic aquí.

Haga clic aquí para ver el Calendario Académico actualizado 2024-2025: Revised-Spanish-2024-2025-Academic-Calendar.