COSTA MESA : School Will Adopt Year-Round Calendar

Wilson Elementary School this fall will become first in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District to use a year-round calendar, the Board of Education was told last week.

The “alternative calendar” going into effect for the 1993-94 school year will maintain the standard 180 days of classes but will feature a summer vacation shortened by 17 days and more time off for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter holidays, said Principal Sandy Bundy.

The new calendar is the product of more than two years of study and tinkering by parents, faculty and administrators at Wilson Elementary, which has about 500 students from kindergarten through sixth grade.

The new schedule is tailored to a student body where three of four students speak English as a second language, Bundy said. Shrinking the summer vacation will give students less time to get out of the English-language habits they have been learning to use in their classrooms.

“After three months at home, immersed in Spanish . . . a lot (of English) is forgotten over summer,” Bundy said, adding that consequently, “we have to retrace a lot of steps in September.”

Wilson Elementary will begin the school year Aug. 25, eight days before other district schools, and end on June 30. Students and faculty will enjoy several major breaks for holidays: Nov. 22-26 for Thanksgiving, Dec. 20-Jan. 7 for winter break, Feb. 14-21 for President’s Day and March 28-April 8 for spring break.

Under the current schedule, many students miss classes while their families visit relatives in Mexico, Bundy said. The longer holiday periods in the new plan allow time for extended trips.

For those who stay at home during holidays, school officials plan to hold several free, non-mandatory intersession classes, where students will be taught drug and smoking prevention, self-esteem and baby-sitting skills.