FAQs.We know you have questions! Many questions can be answered on this page and in this website including specific school start times as well as Quest costs and enrollment information so you have plenty of time to plan before school starts on August 26, 2019.
We will continue to update this page as we receive additional questions. Thank you! |
Start/End Times
What time will my child(ren)’s school start?
Please click here to view start/end times for all schools.
What time will my child’s bus be at the bus stop?
Your official bus routes will be published before school starts. Before we can make our routes, we have to know all the students attending each of our schools and whether they plan to ride the bus.
An easy estimation would be that elementary bus routes will run approximately 45 minutes later and middle/high school bus routes will run approximately 45 minutes earlier than they do this year. However, those times are not definite as it takes less time for middle/high schools to load/unload in the mornings and afternoons than elementary schools so we will take that into consideration. Creating efficient bus routes takes a lot of time and logistics!
Why couldn't we adopt the 172 day calendar to allow the first semester to end before Christmas break like colleges and universities while keeping our start/end times the same?
The 172 Day Calendar requires that we add 15 minutes per day in order to meet the 1025 hours required by NCDPI. Right now, high school students involved in extracurricular activities are already missing important instructional time at the end of their school day. If we extend the day by 15 minutes, they will miss even more instructional time. Therefore, it is necessary that we start the middle and high schools earlier if we adopt the 172 day calendar.
Why can't we just start all the schools all the schools at the same time?
We wish we could! We have studied this idea in depth. The problem is three-fold:
Please click here to view start/end times for all schools.
What time will my child’s bus be at the bus stop?
Your official bus routes will be published before school starts. Before we can make our routes, we have to know all the students attending each of our schools and whether they plan to ride the bus.
An easy estimation would be that elementary bus routes will run approximately 45 minutes later and middle/high school bus routes will run approximately 45 minutes earlier than they do this year. However, those times are not definite as it takes less time for middle/high schools to load/unload in the mornings and afternoons than elementary schools so we will take that into consideration. Creating efficient bus routes takes a lot of time and logistics!
Why couldn't we adopt the 172 day calendar to allow the first semester to end before Christmas break like colleges and universities while keeping our start/end times the same?
The 172 Day Calendar requires that we add 15 minutes per day in order to meet the 1025 hours required by NCDPI. Right now, high school students involved in extracurricular activities are already missing important instructional time at the end of their school day. If we extend the day by 15 minutes, they will miss even more instructional time. Therefore, it is necessary that we start the middle and high schools earlier if we adopt the 172 day calendar.
Why can't we just start all the schools all the schools at the same time?
We wish we could! We have studied this idea in depth. The problem is three-fold:
- We currently use a “fleet busing” model which means we share buses among our elementary, middle, and high schools. Fleet busing requires that we stagger the start times of our schools in order to run all the routes necessary to pick up our students at all of the schools.
- In order for each school to have all of their own buses and not use a fleet busing model, we would need to purchase 54 additional buses. At $90,000 a piece, it would cost our school system almost $5 million dollars to purchase. We feel that money would better serve our kids being allocated to student and teacher programs instead.
- Even if we had the extra 54 buses, we would continue to struggle to find quality bus drivers to drive those buses. We are fortunate that we have fantastic teaching assistants that do drive a lot of our buses but we also employ contractors as well. Even with our current fleet busing model, we do not have enough bus drivers for all of our current routes, much less adding 54 additional buses. Interested in driving a school bus for Catawba County Schools? Please email us!
Before- and After School Care/QUEST
I have to be at work at 8 AM but school doesn’t start until 8:15 AM; what am I supposed to do with my elementary-aged student?
We understand this is a concern for many parents. We are happy to offer three options for parents:
**As promised, our administration worked closely with our teachers and elementary school principals to determine whether we could open the doors earlier than 7:55 AM. We even looked at providing incentives or extra personnel at each school to open the doors earlier than 7:55 AM.
After a thorough analysis, we determined that unfortunately, we simply do not have enough personnel at our elementary schools to open the doors any earlier than the school needs for car rider line. Our elementary teachers need to be preparing to teach, and we don't have enough classified staff to fill our supervision needs.
If you need to use Quest and have financial constraints, please call the Quest office to discuss your particular situation: 828.464.8333.
Did you change the start times just so more students would have to pay for QUEST in the morning and the school district can make more money?
The short answer? Absolutely not. Our before- and after-school care program, QUEST, is a self-sustaining, non-profit organization under the umbrella of Catawba County Schools which is also a non-profit organization. By definition, neither organization can charge more than what something costs to run that organization. We are working hard to make sure that QUEST remains an affordable option for all of our families. We are happy to announce that we were able to keep the total cost of AM/PM care to remain the same from 2018-19 to 2019-20 ($55/week for a 5-day contract). Please click here to view the pricing information on Quest.
I’ve heard there is already a waiting list with some Quest programs. How will I know if my child gets into the before- or after-school program?
The best thing you can do is to sign up for Quest as early as possible so we can plan accordingly and hire enough workers over the summer to be ready for school to start August 26th. Please click here to register for 2019-20 QUEST. Do you know anyone interested in working before- or after-school care with some of the best students in the nation? Please tell them to apply here!
We understand this is a concern for many parents. We are happy to offer three options for parents:
- You may drop your students off at their elementary school as early as 7:50 AM or 7:55 AM.** (Times are dependent on how long it takes for the car rider line and will be announced prior to next school year. Some schools take longer than others.) Students can enjoy a hot breakfast provided by our School Nutrition Department while they are waiting for school to begin at 8:15 AM.
- If you need to drop your student off earlier than 7:50 AM or 7:55 AM, then we invite your student to join our QUEST Family. Our awesome Before and After School Program offers before-school care from 6 AM until school starts and then again from the end of school until 6 PM. You can learn more about the Quest program, including the 2019-20 pricing by clicking here.
- Depending on your work schedule and your specific bus route, your student may be able to ride the bus allowing you to get to work earlier than if you dropped them off at school. Specific bus routes and times will be published closer to the start of next school year.
**As promised, our administration worked closely with our teachers and elementary school principals to determine whether we could open the doors earlier than 7:55 AM. We even looked at providing incentives or extra personnel at each school to open the doors earlier than 7:55 AM.
After a thorough analysis, we determined that unfortunately, we simply do not have enough personnel at our elementary schools to open the doors any earlier than the school needs for car rider line. Our elementary teachers need to be preparing to teach, and we don't have enough classified staff to fill our supervision needs.
If you need to use Quest and have financial constraints, please call the Quest office to discuss your particular situation: 828.464.8333.
Did you change the start times just so more students would have to pay for QUEST in the morning and the school district can make more money?
The short answer? Absolutely not. Our before- and after-school care program, QUEST, is a self-sustaining, non-profit organization under the umbrella of Catawba County Schools which is also a non-profit organization. By definition, neither organization can charge more than what something costs to run that organization. We are working hard to make sure that QUEST remains an affordable option for all of our families. We are happy to announce that we were able to keep the total cost of AM/PM care to remain the same from 2018-19 to 2019-20 ($55/week for a 5-day contract). Please click here to view the pricing information on Quest.
I’ve heard there is already a waiting list with some Quest programs. How will I know if my child gets into the before- or after-school program?
The best thing you can do is to sign up for Quest as early as possible so we can plan accordingly and hire enough workers over the summer to be ready for school to start August 26th. Please click here to register for 2019-20 QUEST. Do you know anyone interested in working before- or after-school care with some of the best students in the nation? Please tell them to apply here!
Number of School Days
The current calendar has 180 days but the 2019-20 calendar only has 172 days. How are you planning to make up for lost instructional time?
We added 15 minutes extra each school to which equates to 43 additional instructional hours or 7.8 additional days. With the added time each day, students will be able to complete more content during each class period. We are committed to developing an engaging, inspiring, and empowering classroom through our 1:1 high school Chromebook roll-out next year as well as providing our teachers with continued staff development on the latest and most effective teaching practices to best meet our student's needs.
The first semester has fewer days than the second semester. How will students be able to learn all their course material in a shorter amount of time?
We are continuing to work with our high schools on a master course calendar to create Fall course offerings that can be delivered in a shortened amount of time.
What about snow days? Do we have any built-in to this new calendar?
Yes, we do! However, just like the current school year, if we have an excessive number of snow days or emergencies that require us to close schools, student days may be made up on Teacher Workdays or Saturdays.
We added 15 minutes extra each school to which equates to 43 additional instructional hours or 7.8 additional days. With the added time each day, students will be able to complete more content during each class period. We are committed to developing an engaging, inspiring, and empowering classroom through our 1:1 high school Chromebook roll-out next year as well as providing our teachers with continued staff development on the latest and most effective teaching practices to best meet our student's needs.
The first semester has fewer days than the second semester. How will students be able to learn all their course material in a shorter amount of time?
We are continuing to work with our high schools on a master course calendar to create Fall course offerings that can be delivered in a shortened amount of time.
What about snow days? Do we have any built-in to this new calendar?
Yes, we do! However, just like the current school year, if we have an excessive number of snow days or emergencies that require us to close schools, student days may be made up on Teacher Workdays or Saturdays.
Thank you for your time reading these FAQs!
Catawba County Schools
2285 N Anderson Ave | Newton, NC 28658
Phone: (828) 464-8333 | Fax: (828) 464-0925
2285 N Anderson Ave | Newton, NC 28658
Phone: (828) 464-8333 | Fax: (828) 464-0925