Two issues:
1. Many great camps, as well as vacation options, fill up before you release the calendar. Calendars should be finalized at least a year in advance. We are already committed first week of August.
2. The school calendar should better align with other school districts state and nationwide. School should start end of August/early September and end in June. We will need to miss the first week of school due to family conflicts. It is irresponsible to start the school year on a Tuesday, August 6 — this is very much still summer. Starting school this early and getting out this early makes it challenging to align with family, camps, etc. The reasoning is not worth it, and from an educational standpoint doesn’t appear to be giving OUSD a leg up on any other districts in the country.
1) Please create a plan to decide the school dates earlier. Many camps start filling up at the start of January and families need time to figure out any travel plans before they decide on camps. It makes it very difficult to figure out camp and travel schedules when we don’t know when school will start. Ideally they could be decided the year ahead or in the early fall. When we are forced to sign up so late we miss early bird deals or spots in desired or more affordable camps.
2) Please adjust OUSD start and end dates to more closely match other districts. If all the surrounding districts have figured out how to make those dates work I am sure OUSD can too. There are almost no camps available in May making it a huge burden on parents. And the early start dates interferes with multi-week camps. It also makes it incredibly difficult to arrange travel with non-OUSD family or friends. It has been nearly impossible to travel with east coast cousins!
Please start the school year no earlier than August 12th, which aligns with surrounding school districts. Ending the school year in May places on undue burden on working parents.
Please start/end the school year similar to other Bay Area districts, which begin/end at least a week later and seem to all finish the semester/finals before Winter Break (see below schedules). As others have said, it makes finding childcare very difficult when camps are not available when OUSD ends the year in late May.
- Berkeley 24/25: Starts 8/14, ends 6/5
- Alameda 24/25: Starts 8/15, ends 6/5
- Santa Clara Unified 24/25: Starst 8/13, end 6/4
- San Leandro Unified 24/25: Starts 8/14, ends 6/5
- Albany Unified 24/25: Starts 8/14, ends 6/4
Please approve and release the calendar with more advance notice so families can plan for summer/school breaks before there aren't any options available. Again, most other districts already have next year's calendars approved and available.
This start and end dates are unnecessarily and unreasonably early, and do not align with any other local districts. This causes significant stress for nearly all families of elementary and middle school students who need to arrange and pay for child care and camps. Please shift the calendar so instruction begins no earlier than August 12.
Please align the school schedule with neighboring districts. It makes family life and scheduling incredibly challenging. Additionally, my understanding is that part of the reason OUSD starts earlier is in an attempt to get better scores in the standardized tests by having additional weeks of school prior to the testing. If true, that is unethical and doesn't serve out students. We need to have accurate information to see our children's academic performance accurately and holistically.
Please do not delay the calendar approval, but please do set the calendar well in advance of when parents need to have this information. A previous commenter noted that camps are competitive and parents lose out on affordable spots when they do not know the first day of school until the last minute. This is absolutely correct! Please do not impose this burden on parents in the future.
Additionally, please consider shifting the schedule a week ahead rather than starting school on a Tuesday or other day in the middle of the week. What are working parents supposed to do? There are rarely single-day camps available, much less at an affordable rate. Are working parents supposed to take off what is expected to be a school day, or scramble to find a family member or friend to take care of their children? The first week of school is typically comprised of minimum days. Starting on a Tuesday or any other day but Monday puts a huge burden on working parents during an already hectic week.
Please rip the band-aid and shift the calendar one week to Aug 12. This doesn't need to derail efficiency of the meeting. A correction was going to be needed at some point and it seems simpler to keep the same calendar structure and shift the whole thing back to align with what was originally rolled out in 2018 (with some pushback even then), rather than chipping away one day at a time.
Please consider aligning our school calendar with those of neigboring districts as this will greatly reduce the stress on families finding camp places. Also, it would be very supportive of families if the calendar could be agreed earlier in the year. What reason could there be for not making this decision earlier (when camp bookings open). Other districts, such as Alameda, have the calendars for 24-25 AND 25-26 lready agreed and posted.
The proposed calendar starts a week earlier than nearby schools, making OUSD out of sync with most summer childcare options, at great inconvenience and expense to Oakland parents. In 2017, a majority of Oakland parents said August 13 was too early, but barely accepted such a date would be ok for the benefit of fall exam scheduling. Since then it has crept earlier without any apparent public involvement, and now a majority of the summer season occurs during the school year, as opposed to during the so-called summer break. Please give our children their summer back and stop making us scramble to fill awkward childcare gaps (inevitably weeks after summer camps have filled). School should start no earlier than the second full week of August, and in future years, the calendar should be finalized prior to Jan 1, when camp enrollment opens.
I don't want to delay the calendar being approved. For future calendars, please approve them earlier in the year so people can plan accordingly. Please consider starting future school years a week later, as many surrounding districts do. It will still be possible to end the semester before winter break for high school students, and very few camps start the last week in May.
I do not want to delay this discussion/decision any further. However, many parents at my school (Glenview) have needs regarding the 2024-25 schedule.
1. We need the calendar released by the beginning of December, when summer camp registrations open. Care for summer is so competitive in the Bay Area, this delay in deciding the calendar results in our families missing out on affordable camp spots that are needed for working parents.
2. Please consider starting Aug 12, like our neighboring school districts. That still leaves us well outside of starting dates around the country, which means family trips do not align, because there is very little overlap with places that start after labor day.
Thank You all for the work you do.
I do not want to delay the calendar being approved at all- but I would like to communicate the following:
1) It would be helpful to have the calendar decided earlier.
2) there are not summer camps available in May when OUSD ends for the year because it is earlier than all of the surrounding districts. This is hard for working parents.
For the next calendar process (25/26) - please consider August 11 or 18th as the first day of school and a June 2026 last day of school (not May)
I do not want to delay this discussion/decision any further, I really want the calendar decided MUCH EARLIER as both a parent and an employee who needs to plan my summers. BUT if BUSD can have their secondary students finish their fall semester before winter break and still start a week+ later than OUSD, why can't OUSD align with them? For working parents of younger school age children, who NEED childcare, getting out as early as we do is a SIGNIFICANT annual stress + burden when many camps are not yet available (in May). I understand the need to finish the semester before winter break, but please consider starting Aug 12 (or Aug 14 like BUSD). If it is too late to align calendars for this year, why not start the process now to align for the 2025-2026 year and all years afterwards? Since our cities are so close and kids go to camps in Berkeley, Alameda, Emeryville, and Piedmont, as well as Oakland, PLEASE help us out here! Consider working parents, not just high schoolers!
Please shift the start date to August 12.
Two issues:
1. Many great camps, as well as vacation options, fill up before you release the calendar. Calendars should be finalized at least a year in advance. We are already committed first week of August.
2. The school calendar should better align with other school districts state and nationwide. School should start end of August/early September and end in June. We will need to miss the first week of school due to family conflicts. It is irresponsible to start the school year on a Tuesday, August 6 — this is very much still summer. Starting school this early and getting out this early makes it challenging to align with family, camps, etc. The reasoning is not worth it, and from an educational standpoint doesn’t appear to be giving OUSD a leg up on any other districts in the country.
1) Please create a plan to decide the school dates earlier. Many camps start filling up at the start of January and families need time to figure out any travel plans before they decide on camps. It makes it very difficult to figure out camp and travel schedules when we don’t know when school will start. Ideally they could be decided the year ahead or in the early fall. When we are forced to sign up so late we miss early bird deals or spots in desired or more affordable camps.
2) Please adjust OUSD start and end dates to more closely match other districts. If all the surrounding districts have figured out how to make those dates work I am sure OUSD can too. There are almost no camps available in May making it a huge burden on parents. And the early start dates interferes with multi-week camps. It also makes it incredibly difficult to arrange travel with non-OUSD family or friends. It has been nearly impossible to travel with east coast cousins!
Thank you for the hard work!
Please start the school year to align with other school districts in the area and allow our kids summertime.
Please start the school year no earlier than August 12th, which aligns with surrounding school districts. Ending the school year in May places on undue burden on working parents.
Please start/end the school year similar to other Bay Area districts, which begin/end at least a week later and seem to all finish the semester/finals before Winter Break (see below schedules). As others have said, it makes finding childcare very difficult when camps are not available when OUSD ends the year in late May.
- Berkeley 24/25: Starts 8/14, ends 6/5
- Alameda 24/25: Starts 8/15, ends 6/5
- Santa Clara Unified 24/25: Starst 8/13, end 6/4
- San Leandro Unified 24/25: Starts 8/14, ends 6/5
- Albany Unified 24/25: Starts 8/14, ends 6/4
Please approve and release the calendar with more advance notice so families can plan for summer/school breaks before there aren't any options available. Again, most other districts already have next year's calendars approved and available.
Thank you.
This start and end dates are unnecessarily and unreasonably early, and do not align with any other local districts. This causes significant stress for nearly all families of elementary and middle school students who need to arrange and pay for child care and camps. Please shift the calendar so instruction begins no earlier than August 12.
Please align the school schedule with neighboring districts. It makes family life and scheduling incredibly challenging. Additionally, my understanding is that part of the reason OUSD starts earlier is in an attempt to get better scores in the standardized tests by having additional weeks of school prior to the testing. If true, that is unethical and doesn't serve out students. We need to have accurate information to see our children's academic performance accurately and holistically.
Please do not delay the calendar approval, but please do set the calendar well in advance of when parents need to have this information. A previous commenter noted that camps are competitive and parents lose out on affordable spots when they do not know the first day of school until the last minute. This is absolutely correct! Please do not impose this burden on parents in the future.
Additionally, please consider shifting the schedule a week ahead rather than starting school on a Tuesday or other day in the middle of the week. What are working parents supposed to do? There are rarely single-day camps available, much less at an affordable rate. Are working parents supposed to take off what is expected to be a school day, or scramble to find a family member or friend to take care of their children? The first week of school is typically comprised of minimum days. Starting on a Tuesday or any other day but Monday puts a huge burden on working parents during an already hectic week.
Please rip the band-aid and shift the calendar one week to Aug 12. This doesn't need to derail efficiency of the meeting. A correction was going to be needed at some point and it seems simpler to keep the same calendar structure and shift the whole thing back to align with what was originally rolled out in 2018 (with some pushback even then), rather than chipping away one day at a time.
Please consider aligning our school calendar with those of neigboring districts as this will greatly reduce the stress on families finding camp places. Also, it would be very supportive of families if the calendar could be agreed earlier in the year. What reason could there be for not making this decision earlier (when camp bookings open). Other districts, such as Alameda, have the calendars for 24-25 AND 25-26 lready agreed and posted.
The proposed calendar starts a week earlier than nearby schools, making OUSD out of sync with most summer childcare options, at great inconvenience and expense to Oakland parents. In 2017, a majority of Oakland parents said August 13 was too early, but barely accepted such a date would be ok for the benefit of fall exam scheduling. Since then it has crept earlier without any apparent public involvement, and now a majority of the summer season occurs during the school year, as opposed to during the so-called summer break. Please give our children their summer back and stop making us scramble to fill awkward childcare gaps (inevitably weeks after summer camps have filled). School should start no earlier than the second full week of August, and in future years, the calendar should be finalized prior to Jan 1, when camp enrollment opens.
I don't want to delay the calendar being approved. For future calendars, please approve them earlier in the year so people can plan accordingly. Please consider starting future school years a week later, as many surrounding districts do. It will still be possible to end the semester before winter break for high school students, and very few camps start the last week in May.
I do not want to delay this discussion/decision any further. However, many parents at my school (Glenview) have needs regarding the 2024-25 schedule.
1. We need the calendar released by the beginning of December, when summer camp registrations open. Care for summer is so competitive in the Bay Area, this delay in deciding the calendar results in our families missing out on affordable camp spots that are needed for working parents.
2. Please consider starting Aug 12, like our neighboring school districts. That still leaves us well outside of starting dates around the country, which means family trips do not align, because there is very little overlap with places that start after labor day.
Thank You all for the work you do.
I do not want to delay the calendar being approved at all- but I would like to communicate the following:
1) It would be helpful to have the calendar decided earlier.
2) there are not summer camps available in May when OUSD ends for the year because it is earlier than all of the surrounding districts. This is hard for working parents.
For the next calendar process (25/26) - please consider August 11 or 18th as the first day of school and a June 2026 last day of school (not May)
I do not want to delay this discussion/decision any further, I really want the calendar decided MUCH EARLIER as both a parent and an employee who needs to plan my summers. BUT if BUSD can have their secondary students finish their fall semester before winter break and still start a week+ later than OUSD, why can't OUSD align with them? For working parents of younger school age children, who NEED childcare, getting out as early as we do is a SIGNIFICANT annual stress + burden when many camps are not yet available (in May). I understand the need to finish the semester before winter break, but please consider starting Aug 12 (or Aug 14 like BUSD). If it is too late to align calendars for this year, why not start the process now to align for the 2025-2026 year and all years afterwards? Since our cities are so close and kids go to camps in Berkeley, Alameda, Emeryville, and Piedmont, as well as Oakland, PLEASE help us out here! Consider working parents, not just high schoolers!