By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
Waterford Union High School is expected to start the upcoming 2025-26 school year earlier than usual as district officials begin planning for further out referendum-funded facilities work.
The WUHS School Board on March 17 reviewed, and approved, a proposed school calendar for the upcoming year. Based on the plans in motion, classes will begin on Monday, Aug. 18, and the 2025-26 school year will draw to a close with end-of-second semester exams on Wednesday, May 13.
Superintendent Luke Francois and Principal Dan Foster said the driver behind the unorthodox school schedule is the anticipated facilities work that is slated to take place in the summer of 2026, now that voters have given the go-ahead to undertake some of the projects that have been on the docket.
District officials are advocating for a longer summer hiatus in 2026 to give construction crews a longer timeframe to undertake the heavy lifting that only will be possible when classes are not in session and there is next-to-no foot traffic within the impacted areas of the high school facility.
At a more granular level, Foster indicated the early start to the school year would give teachers and students the ability to make a clean break between first and second semesters.
First semester is expected to wrap up with exams on Friday, Dec. 19, before a two-and-a-half-week winter break. Second semester would get underway shortly after the new year on Tuesday, Jan. 6.
Speaking to the December conclusion of first semester, Foster said, “That’s really being nimble, and cutting a number of things out to get there.”
Within the confines of the 2025-26 school year calendar, Foster said there could be several tweaks implemented as various logistics are sorted out and conversations with teachers and other faculty get underway.
“There are some flexible pieces in here that we are going to have to keep in mind,” Foster said. “But, in general, what you see is what you get.”
Tentatively, WUHS is planning on having the graduation ceremony for next year’s senior class on Saturday, May 16, though that exact date still remains fluid.
School Board President Michael Schoenfeld said he would prefer the ceremony take place a day earlier – Friday, May 15 – pointing out a desire to have all faculty in attendance at the event and a recent switch-up.
“I just thought that was a great change to what we do,” Schoenfeld said of the more recent graduation ceremony swap from Saturday to Friday.
Francois said the calendar reflects 169 student contact days throughout the 2025-26 school year, which is compliant with Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction standards.
Since WUHS is planning to start the school year before Sept. 1, the permissible date under state law, Francois said the district will be applying for a waiver, which generally is granted to accommodate school construction projects.
During discussions, questions about families’ vacation plans also were raised, in the event students are unable to attend the start of school in mid-August in the waning days of this summer.
“We will work individually with families with great empathy and flexibility,” Francois said of the high school’s response.
-
-
-
-
-