On Tuesday evening, the Spring ISD Board of Trustees approved a 2021-22 Additional Days School Year (ADSY) calendar for the 2021-2022 school year that will have Clark Primary and Clark Intermediate students starting classes on July 19, 2021 and finishing on June 22, 2022.

The approved calendar is one of two innovative options recently presented to the Clark Primary and Clark Intermediate staff and community during a town hall meeting and followed by a survey. Under the approved ADSY calendar, students will attend school 15 days before the start of the district’s 2021-22 calendar and 15 days beyond the last day. Students at both the Clarks will attend school for four days a week during the summer until June 22, 2022.

The Additional Days School Year (ADSY) is a program provided by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) that provides elementary schools in Texas with additional half-day funding to add up to 30 additional days of school to prevent the summer slide. The effort is designed to help students stay on track to maximize achievement gains.

Trustees received a presentation on the program at their work session, held on April 8.

“We held parent town hall meetings to inform our parents about ADSY and how excited we are to be receiving this TEA grant, which will help us to close the achievement gap for our students,” Clark Primary Principal Cynthia Gomez told trustees during that meeting.

Both options represent a different approach to the traditional school year, with the school year starting in July and ending the following year in June. One of the goals of the program is to help schools rethink their daily schedule to include more planning time for teachers as well as opportunities for students to have more brain breaks and play time.

At the work session, trustees not only heard from the principals of the two ADSY campuses but also from parents who took part in the planning process.

“I just want to thank Clark Primary for allowing me to be a part of the process,” said parent Nakita Atkins, a parent of a special needs pre-K student. “This is a big decision and it affects families greatly, so I’m glad that we were able to have a say so, and voice our opinions and concerns when it comes to decisions that affect the whole family.”