It’s the time of year when school districts around the state are beginning to look ahead to next year, and for the Perry and Adel-DeSoto-Minburn districts that meant approving their respective school calendars for 2019-20.

Perry Superintendent Clark Wicks says formulating the yearly calendar may not be the most high-profile thing a school board approves, but he emphasizes it’s one that takes a lot of work. “Well really, the calendar is a big deal each year. There’s usually some different opinions on what day to start, what day to end, what should be in the middle, and that kind of thing. So there’s usually some pretty good discussion.”

For Perry, the school year will begin on Friday, August 23rd and end on Thursday, May 28, 2020. Winter break will begin on Monday, December 23rd and classes will resume Thursday, January 2nd. Spring Break will run the week of March 16th. Another item of note is that Wednesdays will dismiss 90 minutes early next year, as opposed to one hour as it is currently, for additional opportunities for professional learning.

ADM is also altering its early-out schedule for next year, doing away with 1 p.m. dismissals on Wednesday twice a month, in favor of weekly 2 p.m. dismissals on Friday. Their first day of school will be Monday, August 26th, and the last day will be Friday, May 29, 2020. ADM will have the same winter break period as Perry, but will have spring break the week of March 13th.