DE QUEEN – The De Queen School District will continue to operate on a five-day schedule following a recent discussion on possible changes to its traditional school calendar.
On Monday the De Queen School Board accepted a recommendation by Superintendent Jason Sanders to continue with the five-day school schedule and the traditional summer break in between school years. The recommendation followed a discussion by the school board and district officials earlier this year to determine if changes to the school calendar could positively influence academic outcomes.
Arkansas passed Act 688 in 2021, giving school districts flexibility in choosing their calendars. As a result, a number of schools have since adopted non-traditional schedules. The 2023-24 school year includes 34 districts on a four-day schedule, with six using a hybrid, year-round model. These districts must still meet the state’s 178-school-day structure.
After researching possible changes and meeting with local partners, Sanders believes De Queen’s best option at this time is to continue with its current
“Many schools in our area have had a lot of success with a four-day school week or looking at some kind of hybrid or extended year schedule,” said Sanders. “Every community is different, and what may work in one community may not be the best fit for us. We’ve visited different local industries and talked with our board, and we don’t mind evaluating the alternatives. But right now, we think the best fit is to continue with the five-day week schedule.”
Sanders cited a Nov. 29 policy brief from the University of Arkansas’ Office for Education Policy, which suggested a hybrid extended schedule – also known as a year-round calendar (YRC) – could negatively impact literacy, math proficiency, and even attendance compared to the traditional school calendar.
“A lot of academics went down in the tested areas,” said Sanders. “It’s hard to justify making a total change that can affect so much when it may not even help our academics. We’re talking church camps, summer baseball, family vacations, and the total way we run the district and try to get the buildings ready in the summer. So that’s a tough call. We’re going to pause, step back, and stay the course with what we’ve been doing.”
Compared to YRC, the study showed more favorable outcomes for the four-day schedule, particularly in literacy. It concludes by proposing that the adoption of a new school calendar includes “careful consideration of the local context and ongoing evaluation of its effectiveness.”
In other developments, the De Queen School District is preparing to close out the first semester of the 2023-24 school year with strong statewide academic data. Sanders announced that Niche.com, which builds profiles of every school in America to help parents find the right fit for their children, ranked De Queen among some of the best in Arkansas in a number of categories. That includes ranking as the 26th best school in the state for student-athletes, 19th for academics, 18th for most diverse, 10th for best teachers in Arkansas, and fourth out of 244 schools in Arkansas for the best place to teach.
Sanders said those are rankings his teachers, staff, students, and families can be proud of.
“A lot of families use Niche.com to help decide where they want to send their kids to school,” explained Sanders. “So to have those kinds of rankings for the state of Arkansas, well, that says a lot about the work our teachers and staff are doing and the commitment of our students and their families to seeing our schools succeed.”
In line with Niche.com rankings, De Queen Middle School Principal Brandon Lindly presented some of the recent academic awards his campus has received. That includes scoring above the state average in literacy, math, and science. In a recent study, Newsweek also ranked the middle school as one of the best in the nation.
The Office of Education Policy recognized the campus for its high growth in math competencies, its high overall growth, and its “Beating the Odds” award. That award recognizes strong academic growth in districts with a high percentage of students receiving free or reduced lunches (76 percent at De Queen Public Schools).
“If there are better middle schools out there, I’ll say there aren’t very many,” said Lindly. “I couldn’t be more pleased of our teachers and students for their hard work.”
Lindly said the campus hosted its first Meet the Teacher event earlier this fall with around 125 families in attendance. He said the event went well and will become a tradition for his campus in the future.
Monday night, the school board also upheld three student expulsions and recognized Board Member Barry Reed for recently achieving his Master Board Member recognition. The district also plans to perform its upgrades to the five campus cafeterias over the Christmas break.