The last day of school for Watertown students in 2019 will be on a Monday, while the first day in the fall will be after Labor Day.
Superintendent Dede Galdston said that the last day has been set, unless there is a freak storm or other reason to cancel school.
“The last day will be a half day on Monday, June 17,” Galdston said.
All students in Massachusetts must be in school for 180 days. With one school day, that moved the 180th day from a Friday to a Monday.
2019-20 Calendar
The School Committee got its first look at the 2019-20 school calendar.
The first day will be on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2019, the day after Labor Day, said Assistant Superintendent Theresa McGuinness.
The last day of school, if there were no snow days, would be June 15, 2020. However, Galdston warned parents not to count on that day being the final one.
“We tell families to target June 22 for vacations, so they don’t plan a vacation before school ends,” Galdston said, explaining that June 22 is the “185th Day,” or they final day if there are five snow days.
If there are more than five cancellations due to snow or other reasons, school will go past that point. School Committee member Lindsay Mosca said she has seen other School Districts put a note on their calendars saying that school can go as late as June 30.
“They do not identify just five days as the last day of school,” Mosca said.
School Committee Vice Chair Kendra Foley worried that if Watertown puts June 30 on the calendar, it could confuse people.
Other details of the 2019-20 calendar include that there will be four early release days for teacher professional development, McGuiness said.
Also, the parent-teacher conferences will be held closer together. They will also be later in the year.
“Teachers wanted to have parents have the opportunity to come in during the afternoon and evening on the same day,” McGuinness said.
The proposed calendar will available to view on the Watertown Public Schools website, watertown.k12.ma.us, and will be brought back to the School Committee in May to be approved.