Birdville ISD NEWS for 10/16/2020

BISD Revises 2020–21 Calendar

Oct 16, 2020 05:00 am

On Thursday, October 15, BISD Superintendent Dr. Darrell Brown announced changes to the 2020–21 school calendar. The District is adjusting the calendar to add five half days so teachers can effectively plan lessons for face-to-face and online students. 

The revised calendar provides early release days in order for teachers to accomplish some of the following duties: 

• Plan lessons for dual platforms 
• Create student assignments 
• Grade student assignments  
• Conduct student conferences through Zoom 
• Answer questions that have been posted in Chat and/or emails 
• Provide tutorials through Zoom 

The following days are now early release (half) days: 

1. Friday, October 30, 2020
2. Friday, October 30, 2020
3. Friday, October 30, 2020
4. Friday, October 30, 2020
5. Friday, October 30, 2020
6. Friday, October 30, 2020 

*It will be determined in April 2021 whether this is an early release day. 

Early Release Schedules 

Pre-K/PPCD 
(AM) 8:10–10:30 a.m. 
(PM) 10:40 a.m. – 12:40 p.m. 

Elementary (K–5)  
8:10 a.m. – 12:40 p.m.   

Middle School (6–8)  
8:40 a.m. – 1:10 p.m.  
 
High School (9–12) 
7:30–11:30 a.m.  

Shannon High School 
7:45–11:45 a.m. 

“The change to the calendar is needed to help our teachers ensure they are prepared to be effective with our students,” Dr. Brown said. “I appreciate how they are going above and beyond to plan and teach in two platforms (face-to-face and online), which has greatly increased the complexity of their work.”   

Fall 2020 Semester Exams Suspended

Oct 15, 2020 04:19 pm

After a lengthy discussion with stakeholders, BISD Superintendent Dr. Darrell Brown, and the superintendent’s Cabinet approved the recommendation to suspend first semester exams in December 2020. The rationale behind this decision was to recapture valuable instructional time typically spent in review and use that time instead to cover content and skills that students missed due to COVID–19 school closures. Data shows that our students have lost valuable instruction, and the gaps in academic performance are real. Thus, this redirection of valuable instructional time is one way to regain lost ground. 

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