Last October, the Noblesville School Board of Trustees unanimously approved a balanced calendar for the 2013-14 school year. Under the calendar, school is scheduled to start Aug. 1 and end May 30 with two-week fall, winter and spring breaks throughout the year. In return, summer vacation time is decreased by nearly two weeks. The switch made Noblesville the only district in Hamilton County not operating by a traditional calendar, and some CHS students, such as junior Erica Arbuckle, said they hope Carmel Clay will follow in its footsteps.

“I think that the extended breaks would really help students not feel so burned out from school. Especially around spring break, when students are starting to look toward summer it is important to give them enough time to recover for one final push at the end of the year,” Arbuckle said.

However, despite the absence of balanced calendars in the majority of Hamilton County, the new system has nonetheless become a growing trend statewide, as districts such as Brownsburg, Avon, Center Grove, Warren and others have recently adopted the new calendar. Dr. Steven A. Dillon, Carmel Clay’s Director of Student Services, said that the district will closely analyze the effects of a balanced calendar on neighboring districts, especially Noblesville.

“The odds are that as they live through it next year, they will find out things that they liked about it that they didn’t anticipate…so that will be good information for us to get,” Dillon said.

Arbuckle said she hopes examining the effects of the calendar on other schools will be helpful in trying to adopt the calendar in Carmel.

“I think they are holding off to see the effects of the calendar with other schools, and hopefully they are positive and will assist in a push to implement it here,” Arbuckle said.

Dillon said that from his perspective, he would not oppose a balanced calendar as long as it could maintain the current academic standards that are in place.

“The number one principle for us when we decide a calendar is to put together the best calendar that supports academics at Carmel Clay Schools. I wouldn’t want it to interfere with our academic goals that we have for our students, so if we can explore that I couldn’t say that it would be bad. At this point, academically, I don’t see it as a plus or a minus for us,” Dillon said.

Phil Michael, Noblesville resident and father of two elementary school children, said he agrees with Dillon about the need for an academic focus on the calendar, but still thinks a balanced calendar offers more benefits compared to a traditional one.

“Education is number one. And I think two years down the road, three years down the road, the calendar will run pretty smoothly and the vast majority of people will like it,” Michael said, “I like the idea that Noblesville took the initiative to do something different. It seems like being the smaller city of Hamilton County, we seem to be a follower and I think that we went out and took a chance here. I’m very much in favor and supportive of the new calendar.”

As Dillon weighed the advantages and disadvantages of a balanced calendar, he said he recognizes a possible financial threat for business owners. He pointed out that students would have less time to participate in summer camps and attend other seasonal attractions because school would start nearly two weeks earlier after summer vacation. Dillon also said that students would not have the ability to attend the Indiana State Fair as often, but said he agreed that such factors should not dictate the calendar.

Although Arbuckle said making the initial adjustment to a new calendar would be difficult, she said she is in favor of a balanced calendar.

“It definitely would feel awkward going back to school super early, but the longer breaks make up for it,” Arbuckle said. “This really applies to spring break, because I think it is the most critical break as far as regrouping goes. Toward the end of the year, a lot of people start to check out and a longer spring break could help keep them focused.”