BENTONVILLE -- Thursday marked not only the end of a school year, but the end of an era at R.E. Baker and Elm Tree elementary schools.
Both schools for years have operated on a nontraditional calendar, which features a short summer vacation and more frequent breaks scattered throughout the year.
Calendar highlights
Here are key dates of the Bentonville School District’s 2016-17 calendar:
• Aug. 15: First day of school
• Oct. 10-12: Fall break
• Nov. 21-25: Thanksgiving break
• Dec. 21-Jan. 3: Winter break
• March 20-24: Spring break
• May 26: Last day of school
Source: Staff report
The School Board, at the urging of school administrators, decided in December to put all schools on one calendar. The calendar the board adopted for 2016-17 looks far more traditional.
Elm Tree has been on the nontraditional calendar since it opened 20 years ago. A large mural visible to anyone who walks through the school's main entrance declares, "Grow year round at Elm Tree Elementary School." That mural will be removed this summer, according to Principal Amy Simpson.
When the school's leadership team met last week, staff members agreed growing year-round is about more than a calendar.
"I loved that idea, because Elm Tree is a family," Simpson said. "The families are an extension of us. I don't want Elm Tree to be famous for a calendar. I want it to be known for what we do with the kids."
Still, several kids said Thursday they'll miss the year-round calendar.
Devyn O'Daniel, 10, just finished the fourth grade at Elm Tree. The school's two-week break in October allowed her and her family to get away to Disney World, she said.
"We had a good vacation because there weren't so many people there," Devyn said.
Avery Thomsen, 10, also just finished the fourth grade at Elm Tree. She'll be moving next door to Ardis Ann Middle School this fall.
"I like the nontraditional calendar. I think it's more fun with more breaks, because you have more time to do things with your family," Avery said.
The proposal to shift to one calendar for the entire district bothered many of the parents who had grown to love the nontraditional one.
Administrators argued it was necessary to put all the schools on one calendar so they could be grouped into the same zoning scheme, which they said would ease problems associated with overcrowded schools.
Stephanie Red's daughter just finished the third grade at Baker Elementary and will be moving to Apple Glen Elementary this fall because of the calendar switch.
Red believes every school in the district is excellent, so she doesn't mind her daughter going to Apple Glen. But she remains skeptical the calendar decision will solve what it was intended to fix.
"I think we will have overcrowding because of the huge growth rate, and a lot of it is concentrated in one part of the town," Red said. "The other thing that concerns me on some level is we're living in a world where school choice continues to increase in popularity, and Bentonville just removed the one choice on the table."
Kim Sutton, Baker Elementary School's principal for the past three years, admitted the move to a new calendar has been "challenging." She added, however, she believes it will be a positive thing for the district in the long run.
"I think it's going to be something that will work out very well and the kids are still going to be learning," Sutton said.
Sutton is leaving the school because her husband accepted a job in Atlanta. Josh Draper, formerly an assistant principal in the Rogers School District, will take her place.
The calendar and attendance zone changes mean about 90 percent of the students at Baker will be new to the school this fall, Sutton said. About half of the students at Elm Tree will be new next school year, Simpson said.
Sue McCarthy, a first-grade teacher at Baker, just finished her 15th year at the school. Baker switched to the nontraditional calendar during her second year there.
McCarthy said while most of the Baker teachers are "a little bummed" about the calendar change. McCarthy viewed the breaks in October, February and April as a way to "reboot" herself as a teacher.
But she added teachers have adjusted to the idea of the change and are moving forward. Changing grade levels and changes in administration are bigger deals to the teachers than any calendar change, McCarthy said.
"Whatever students walk through the door, they're ours. We'll take care of them and we'll nurture them," she said.
NW News on 06/17/2016