Strategic Roadmap » Exploring CVSD Elementary & Middle School Parent-Teacher Conferences

Exploring CVSD Elementary & Middle School Parent-Teacher Conferences

As part of our five-year Strategic Roadmap, our focus is creating infinite possibilities for all students. One strategic direction implemented to aid in reaching this goal is "Reimagining Systems and Structures," which drives the exploration of the effective use of CVSD elementary and middle school parent-teacher conferences. With the adoption of the 2025-2026 school calendar, recommended by the CVSD Balanced Calendar Committee, it provided an opportunity to reassess how elementary and middle school conferences are addressed.

Current 2024-2025 Parent-Teacher Conference Schedule

  • Elementary schools have 11 half days (five in November and six in March) for conferences.
  • Middle schools have 7 half days (four in October and three in February). 

Why change?

While conferences are valuable for building partnerships with families, the number of half days reduced classroom instruction time and caused challenges for families with childcare and work. The new 2025-2026 school calendar offers an opportunity to increase full instructional days and provide parents with options for afternoon or evening conferences that may better suit their schedules. 

Proposed 2025-2026 Elementary Conference Schedule

Wed., Oct. 22, 2025
8:10am - 3:40pm
No school for elementary students.
Conferences take place during regular teacher work hours. 
Thurs., Oct. 23
11:00am - 6:30pm
No school for elementary students.
Conferences take place on "shifted" teacher work hours. 
Fri., Oct. 24
8:10am - 3:40pm
No school for elementary students.
Conferences take place during regular teacher work hours. 
Thurs., Feb. 5, 2026
8:10am - 3:40pm
No school for elementary students.
Conferences take place during regular teacher work hours. 
Fri., Feb. 6
8:10am - 3:40pm
No school for elementary students.
Conferences take place during regular teacher work hours. 
 

Proposed 2025-2026 Middle School Conference Schedule

Wed., Oct. 22, 2025
7:30am - 3:00pm
No school for middle school students.
Conferences take place during regular teacher work hours. 
Thurs., Oct. 23
10:30am - 6:00pm
No school for middle school students.
Conferences take place on "shifted" teacher work hours. 
Fri., Oct. 24
7:30am - 3:00pm
No school for middle students.
Conferences take place during regular teacher work hours. 
 

Requirement for Instructional Days & Conference Days Waiver

Currently, the state requires 180 days of instruction. This proposed change would reduce this to 175 days of instruction in elementary schools and 177 days in middle schools. The conference days would be “waived” by the state as part of the waiver afforded to all schools for parent-teacher conferences. To receive the waiver, the district must keep elementary days coupled with middle school days. This is one reason why our elementary conferences would shift to October. 
 

Proposed Minor Change to Elementary Bell Schedule

To meet state requirements for average annual instruction, a small adjustment will be made to the elementary school bell schedule. The final elementary school proposal will be a student bell schedule of 8:55 am - 3:15 pm, which includes a 2-minute change in the start time (8:57 am to 8:55 am). Thursdays will be 9:55 am - 3:15 pm. 
 
After clarifying that both the parent-teacher conference time and 10 minutes of students' lunch recess could be included as instructional time through the School Board of Education (SBE) and Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), our elementary schools will surpass the required 1000 hours annually without needing to significantly expand the daily bell schedule. Contracted work hours and required preparatory minutes (110 minutes/week before school and 180 minutes/week during school hours) would not change.
 

There is no change to the middle school bell schedule.

Why choose October & February dates?

When the committee looked at the 2025-2026 school calendar to decide on parent-teacher conferences, important elements were taken into account before deciding upon dates:
  • Aligning elementary and middle school conferences ensuring the district would qualify for a state waiver and has the added benefit of helping some parents with childcare coverage.
  • As elementary schools move to semester grading periods, this would allow for a targeted goal-setting conference with recent screener data available, or a chance for parents and teachers to plan for the upcoming spring state assessment, all before a final report card is completed.
  • The committee was cognizant of the proximity to other non-school days, such as the October Learning Improvement Day and the February mid-winter break. They worked to ensure conference days were viewed as separate, important dates to encourage conference attendance.

Grade Reporting Periods

Along with the change in conferences, elementary schools will move to two reporting semesters, and middle schools will remain on a quarter/semester schedule. The semester reporting schedule allows for a mid-fall conference, where teachers can work with parents on student strengths and any potential corrections that may be needed before the semester report card grades are completed. Additionally, planned conferences for elementary students in February will allow teachers to have targeted conferences with students and parents prior to the mandatory state assessment window in the spring.
 

Report Cards

Middle school grade reporting periods will remain the same. In elementary, grades will be reported just two times each year. Some adjustments will be made to the current elementary report cards to accommodate this change.
 

What about assessment schedules?

District assessment schedules will be aligned to the new plan for formative assessments, such as FastBridge. The testing window for summative state assessments fits within the proposed conference plan.

Staff Considerations

  • Childcare options for staff on late conference nights may include schools working with their Parent Teacher Organizations/Associations or high school feeders to organize childcare at the school to help ease any burden.
  • Classified staff will work their regular hours on conference days. The proposed schedule with no students in attendance on those days will provide a unique opportunity for targeted professional development without interfering with the important services these staff provide to students throughout the regular school day.
  • Special Education teachers understand that all students are general education students first, and they should plan to attend as many conferences as possible to assist the general education teacher with goal setting. Special Education teachers will not be expected to produce progress reports for the October and February conference times. The primary focus of the conference is goal setting, identifying the student's strengths, and problem solving with parents on areas for improvement.
  • Specialists would be expected to participate in student conferences with identified students, either by joining the classroom teachers or scheduling a separate time in conjunction with the classroom conference. Additionally, there may be opportunities for specialists to collaborate in rich, intentional teams on conference days.

Conference Committee Process Timeline:

  • Oct. 9, 2024: Committee formed, first meeting held to check feasibility and drafted preliminary proposal.
  • Oct. 21, 2024: Committee took feedback from building administrators to measure feasibility of preliminary proposal. Middle school parents were surveyed on fall and spring conference effectiveness.
  • Oct. 23, 2024: CVEA leadership discussion on proposal following committee meetings and middle school parents' feedback.
  • Oct. 28, 2024: Committee took feedback from building leadership teams to measure the feasibility of the preliminary proposal.
  • Nov. 13, 2024: Current proposal was shared at elementary and middle school principal meetings to get feedback and clarify questions.
  • Nov. 18, 2024: Questions were taken by teachers at the Superintendent's Faculty Communicator meeting. Questions from the meeting were answered and compiled to start to form frequently asked questions.
  • Dec. 9, 2024: School Board presentation on current proposal to share progress and get Board feedback.
  • Dec. 19, 2024: Staff information and feedback survey sent to elementary and middle school teachers. 
  • Jan. 6, 2025: Parent feedback survey to be sent to all elementary families. 
  • Jan. - Feb. 2025: Committee to review survey data and feedback to address questions and concerns. The committee will present its final proposal to the School Board.