There’s just something nice, normal and comforting about a calendar. Calendars provide direction, an opportunity to plan and confidence in knowing most things have a time, a place and date to happen.

In January, the Vicksburg Warren School District Board of Trustees approved the 2021-2022 school year calendar, bringing a sense of normalcy to a year that has been anything but normal.

“We are hopeful things will be different next year and we will be able to have all of our students back in person,” VWSD Superintendent Chad Shealy said. “We are always looking to the future while keeping a firm grasp of the present and we will finish strong this year. Whatever the future holds, we will be ready.”

The 2021-2022 school year will begin Aug. 6, with the final day of school set for May 26, 2022.

There are a number of four-day weekends on the calendar, including a fall break on Oct. 8 and a winter break beginning Feb. 18. Students will also have Good Friday (April 15, 2022) and the Monday after Easter (April 18, 2022) off.

The Christmas holidays will begin after school on Dec. 17.

River City Early College will celebrate its Class of 2022 on May 25, 2022, followed by Vicksburg High’s graduation on May 26 and Warren Central’s graduation on May 27.

Shealy said there are a number of factors that go into putting the calendar together each year.

“The state requires schools to be open for students for 180 days each year. Teachers and the majority of school staff have a requirement for 187 days. The Mississippi Department of Education also publishes testing windows each year,” he said. “The calendar is created to accommodate these requirements and windows and provide adequate teaching time before those assessments. Consideration is also given to the needs of students and teachers to have breaks throughout the school year.”

In addition to the holidays and breaks, the calendar includes five early-release — or 63 percent days. Those dates during the 2021-2022 school year are Sept. 1, Sept. 29, Dec. 8, Dec. 17 and May 2.

The requirements for the school year provided by the Mississippi Department of Education guide the creation of the calendar. Once the first draft is compiled, principals and other district staff review the calendar and provide input.

Once feedback is considered and any adjustments are made, the calendar must be approved by the VWSD School Board of Trustees, typically in January or February each year for the following year.