NEW ROCHELLE, NY — New Rochelle High School PTSA is calling on Schools Superintendent Dr. Brian Osborne and Members of the New Rochelle Board of Education to change the recently adopted 2015-16 School Calendar and move the currently scheduled spring vacation from April 25-29 to March 21-25.
Easter Sunday 2016 will fall on March 27th. Passover 2016 begins in the evening of Friday, April 22 and ends in the evening of Saturday, April 30.
The New Rochelle Board of Education anchored the 2016 Spring Vacation around Passover. The New Rochelle High School PTSA is proposing a date anchored on Easter but there stated motivation is not religious but academic.
NRHS PTSA President Adrienne Quinn sent a letter to senior school officials last week. The PTSA spoke at the Board meeting on April 7th on this issue:
There is a scheduling conflict that has arisen due to certain anomalies in next year’s school district calendar that will have a significant impact on our New Rochelle High School students, particularly those taking AP exams. We are asking that you consider the message outlined in the letter below and then we encourage you to participate in our letter-writing campaign to Dr. Brian Osborne, Superintendent, and to our Board of Education members regarding the Spring Break in the 2015-2016 School District Calendar.
Quinn is asking that those who support the change send emails to Schools Superintendent Dr. Brian Osborne (bosborne@nred.org) and New Rochelle Board of Education Clerk Liz Saraiva (lsaraiva@nred.org) and share this information with families within the school district and the New Rochelle High School community.
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FORM LETTER
Among its many accolades, New Rochelle High School offers a robust program of Advanced Placement (AP) college-level courses. Over 700 students at NRHS take AP courses with exams, and the City School District of New Rochelle has identified having more students take AP level courses as one of its goals going forward. These courses play a critical role in preparing our students to be college and career ready. Not only do they enrich our students’ educational experiences, but in many cases they are accepted for college credit, thereby reducing the financial burden of college for our families. The AP exam scores are sometimes also averaged into the students’ high school course grades. In addition, they can be used by college admissions officers as a point of comparison amongst students nationwide.
The calendar places NRHS students at a disadvantage for the 2016 AP examinations by placing the Spring Break immediately before the AP examination period, which begins on Monday, May 2.
For consideration:
Mastering the challenging AP course material requires structured review sessions by the course teachers, as well as opportunities for one-on-one contact with the teachers. The week-long absence from school immediately preceding the AP exams will put even the most disciplined, organized students at a great disadvantage. If review sessions are scheduled, what are the budgetary ramifications of paying teachers during a vacation?
Almost all other districts within Westchester County whose calendars we have seen posted (over thirty) have opted for an earlier spring vacation. Of the two which have not, one does not offer AP courses at all, and the other offers only 6 AP courses. By contrast, NRHS offers 28 AP classes, one of few high schools in the state providing such an array. An earlier spring break is not ideal, yet most other districts have opted for it.
The class of 2017 (next year’s juniors) will be dealing with the rollout of the new SAT exam; nobody knows what awaits them with the new format. It will be a challenge for them to be the “guinea pigs” of the new test, so already their college application process will be compromised.
Spring break provides the best opportunity for NRHS juniors to visit colleges while classes are in session, which is not possible during the summer vacation. It is also the time for seniors to visit the colleges where they have been accepted – but this will not be possible if they need to spend the last week of April preparing for their AP exams. Additionally, many high school students participate in family vacations and school-related trips over the spring break.
Students around the country take AP exams the weeks of May 2 and 9. New York State opens its schools later than most states, and this year’s calendar in particular has NRHS students starting later than all schools in the country (September 8), so already our students will have less time to prepare for AP exams than their peers nationwide.
Our children need a break from the rigor that NRHS provides. With the spring break scheduled immediately prior to the AP exams, they will not get the mental and emotional rest that is necessary for success.
Prospective home buyers look at different criteria when assessing a community, the rich offerings of NRHS chief among them. Please allow our students to be successful in their high school careers by providing them with adequate AP exam preparation.
We respectfully submit this request to amend the school calendar, moving the spring vacation from April 25-29 to March 21-25.
We thank you for your thoughtful consideration.
Yours in partnership,
(your name)
EDITOR’S NOTE: The most recent “early Easter” occurred in 2008, the earliest in nearly a century. The last time Easter Sunday fell on March 23 was in 1913. Easter can occur earlier. The earliest Easter ever recorded in the Gregorian calendar from 1753 onwards was on March 22, both in 1761 and 1818. The next time Easter occurs on March 23 will not be until 2160, and a March 22 Easter will not happen until the year 2285.
The Easter date is set around the time of the vernal, or spring, equinox, when the length of day and night is nearly equal in every part of the world — around March 21 when the sun shines directly on the equator and the length of day and night are nearly equal everywhere in the world.
The vernal equinox also coincides with Easter and the holidays that are related to it. They do not fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian or Julian calendars. In the New Testament of the Bible, Jesus’ death and resurrection occurred around the time of the Jewish Passover, which was celebrated on the first full moon following the vernal equinox. Early Christians around the world celebrated Easter on different dates.
The Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. established that Easter would be held on the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox. From that point forward, the Easter date depended on the ecclesiastical approximation of March 21 for the vernal equinox. Easter is delayed one week if the full moon is on Sunday, which decreases the chances of it falling on the same day as the Jewish Passover.