February 12^th, 2014

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

As of February 14^th, Wabash City Schools has missed 11 days due to the weather.  January 6^th & 7^th were waived by the IDOE leaving us with 9 make-up days. 

Missed Days & Corresponding Make-up Days:

Missed Day	January 6	January 7	January 8	January 9	January 10	January 23
Make Up Day	Waived	Waived	February 3	February 17	March 17	May 23
Missed Day	January 24	January 27	January 28	February 5	February 7
Make Up Day	May 27	May 28	May 29	May 30	April 4

Wabash City Schools had scheduled an e-learning day for grades 4-12 on Wednesday, February 5^th.   By all accounts, this was a highly productive day academically for a day we were not in session.  We plan to submit our proof of academic progress made on this day to the IDOE; however, ultimately, the IDOE will make the final decision.  In the meantime, the IDOE has stated that it will provide an opportunity for schools to make up days through adding an hour onto the school day (6 days=1 day earned back) or through e-learning opportunities (details have yet to be released).

As we look to recoup missed days, Wabash City Schools wants to ensure we are continuing to provide our students with a high level of education.  With this being said, simply adding days on the end of the year does not translate in effectively making up for lost time because those days fall after all the high stakes testing season: ISTEP, ECA, and Advanced Placement (AP) exams.  Therefore, Wabash City Schools proposes a plan that will recoup two days—April 4^th and May 30th—by adding time to the instructional day for 12 days.  Beginning Thursday, February 20^th and ending on Friday, March 7^th, O.J. Neighbours, W.C. Mills and Wabash Middle School (grades K-8) will add an hour on the end of the school day.   Wabash High School will add an hour onto the end of the day for 12 days beginning on Thursday, April 24^th through Friday, May 9^th.   The differences in dates correspond with different test dates for different buildings.  This added time would make up for February 5^th & 7^th instead of using April 4^th and May 30^th as make-up days.

Make up Days for O.J. Neighbours, W.C Mills, and Wabash MS
Days Missed	January 6	January 7	Jan. 8	Jan. 9	Jan. 10		Jan.23
Make-up Days	Waived	Waived	February 3	February 17	March 17		May 23
Days Missed	Jan. 24	Jan. 27	Jan. 28	February 5	February 7
Make-up Days	May 27	May 28	May 29	Feb 20-27*	February 28-March 7*
Make up Days for Wabash High School
Days Missed	January 6	January 7	Jan. 8	Jan. 9	Jan. 10	Jan. 23
Make-up Days	Waived	Waived	February 3	February 17	March 17	May 23
Days Missed	Jan. 24	Jan. 27	Jan. 28	February 5	February 7
Make-up Days	May 27	May 28	May 29	April 24-May 1*	May 2-May 9*

*An hour will be added to each school day during this span of time.

Why make up any time?

As everyone is aware, to date, we have missed 11 days of school.  While Wabash City Schools believes that our mission is much greater than high stakes standardized testing, we understand that our system and our community are judged by these exams.  Therefore, in order to be best prepared for these exams, Wabash City Schools believes adding an extra hour of instructional time will help prepare our kids for these exams.  The additional outcome is making up a missed day.  

Why not make up more days?

We may.  Winter is not over yet and we may have more days to make-up.  We have considered applying for e-learning days on Saturdays.  With the current plan, Wabash City Schools will end the student year on Thursday, May 29^th and the last teacher day will be Friday, May 30^th.

What about graduation?

Due to the closings, we were forced to move graduation back from our original date of May 23^rd.  We moved graduation to Sunday, June 1^st because the only available days at the Honeywell Center were on a Sunday.  We understand that this has caused some changes in plans and may make some travel arrangements difficult for families traveling out of town.  However, this is the best plan to accommodate the majority while keeping graduation at the Honeywell Center.

If there are additional concerns or questions, please feel free to either contact me at 563-2151 or your child’s building principal.

Sincerely,

Jason Callahan, Superintendent