RAVENSWOOD, W.Va. — The week before Christmas is a busy one for Jackson County Schools.
The district’s calendar this school year has the first semester ending at the end of this week, before Christmas break.
“It’s been busy,” Jimmy Fraiser, Ravenswood High School principal, said on MetroNews’ affiliate WMOV in Ravenswood on “The Valley Today with Joe Stevens.”
“Finishing up this week will be our finals week. We are getting all that stuff done, all of our projects turned in, stuff like that. Teachers are getting grades put on the computer because this is the end of our semester now. It’s busy, getting things tidied up before heading out of here for the break.”
Fraiser expressed that there are a lot of thoughts and opinions about when the school semester should end but said for the majority, students and teachers at Ravenswood enjoy this current calendar.
“I think both the students and teachers like this,” he said. “It used to be we were in the second or third week of January where the semester finished. Three or four years ago, the state allowed us to change the calendar where we can stop it here. It’s been great because when you come back after the break, it’s a fresh new start into a new semester.”
Students in Jackson County Schools will resume classes in the new year on January 2.
The 2019-2020 school year in Jackson County will see the same thing as the Board of Education approved next year’s calendar at a recent meeting, The first semester in Jackson County will end December 20, 2019.
Fraiser said getting next year’s calendar approved this soon is all about communication between the school system and the families.
“We’ve got all of next year’s calendar set,” he said. “People are vacations, setting up family outings, you’ve got sporting events, you’re looking at graduations, different awards assemblies, stuff like that, that is set well in advance. We can get people back home to see those or they can travel and make plans with a certain amount of certainty.”
The first day of instructional learning in 2019-2020 for the county will be on August 19.
This year’s junior class will be at the top of the chain in 2019-2020, Fraiser added, as Ravenswood High School will hold a Junior Parent Night on Tuesday to prepare those students and families for the big year. Fraiser said the event will begin at 6:30 at the school’s auditorium where students and parents can learn about financial aid, SAT testing, the Promise Scholarship, and tutoring sessions.