The academic calendars are set for the 2022-23 school year at Des Moines Public Schools. The district-wide and Downtown School calendars, approved at Tuesday’s School Board meeting, are similar to recent school years.

While changes to the academic calendar, including adding more holidays, were considered those issues will be given additional consideration and discussion.

The academic calendar is largely designed to meet the basic requirements for instructional time established by the State of Iowa, while at the same time working around some holidays, breaks for our students and families, and professional development needs for our staff.

DMPS is a diverse community by every definition of the word: culturally, racially, economically, and spiritually. The district has taken many steps – and have more to take – in recognition of that fact as inclusion and equity remains a priority throughout DMPS.

While including holidays observed by other cultures and religions had merits there were other considerations, from implications on some of our staff contracts to our overall work around inclusion, that need more time for consideration.\

Making improvements to the academic calendar is not over. To the contrary, taking a little additional time to resolve some issues as well as objectives around inclusion will put DMPS in a better position in the creation of our 2023-24 school year calendar.