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HUNTINGTON -- Just about all area families will experience something new this school year.

For most, it will be the calendar changes, which came as a result of new legislation this year. It freed counties of the former mandate that school could not start before Aug. 26.

If your kids attend Southside Elementary or Huntington Middle School, they'll be in new facilities in the Southside neighborhood, where the schools were built on the former Cammack schools' site.

And if your kids attend Huntington or Cabell Midland high schools or the Cabell County Career Technology Center, the implementation of the Innovation Zones plan has altered, created or canned several state policies. That includes a change of the dropout age from 16 to 18.

Here is a look at what you can expect for the upcoming school year in West Virginia schools.

Check your calendar

Until this year, parents throughout West Virginia could circle the same date in August as the first day to head back to school.

That's out the window this year after lawmakers passed legislation in January allowing counties to develop a calendar free of the Aug. 26 start date and June 9 end date. Counties must still stay within the 43-week contract time of service personnel, but the new law did produce some flexibility that many counties used when creating their calendars.

Most counties went one of two routes, including Cabell, Wayne and Putnam. Teachers in Cabell County report Monday, Aug. 16, with students starting three days later on Thursday, Aug. 19.

Wayne, Putnam and Mason counties are bringing teachers back Wednesday, Aug. 18, with the first day for students on Monday, Aug. 23.

All the changes mean that summer vacation for teachers and students is a week shorter. And for Barboursville Middle School teacher Daniel Dunford, he noticed it.

"It seems like summer is getting shorter, but getting this much time off in the summers, I can't complain," Dunford said.

He and his wife also welcomed their first child this summer and he mows several lawns on the side. As busy as he was, Dunford said he isn't surprised that teachers go back in eight days.

"Summer is flying by," he said. "I'm definitely feeling the earlier date."

But he's not opposed to getting back early, especially with the difficulty he and many other teachers had this winter. No county in West Virginia reached the state-mandated 180 days of instruction last year, and more than a dozen had stretches in January and February where they never had a full week of school. In fact, every county in the state had called off school at least one day -- most had more -- by the end of January.

"There was a lot of cramming," Dunford said.

It also affects parents, some more than others. Aly A. McGinnis, who is the president of the Parent-Teacher Organization at Meadows Elementary, said one week earlier doesn't feel that different. But it affected another family they know.

"We do have some friends that had to change a trip because they always went on vacation the week before school starts," McGinnis said, adding that they have a timeshare and had to switch weeks.

The private schools in Huntington operate on calendars of their own. Only St. Joseph Grade School and Central Catholic High School, along with Our Lady of Fatima Parish School, closely follow Cabell County's calendar.

Our Lady of Fatima, which serves elementary through eighth grade, starts Aug. 18. Kindergartners will attend a half day. Aug. 18 also is the first day for St. Joseph Central Catholic High School, while first through eighth grade will attend a half day. An open house is scheduled for preschool and kindergarten.

Grace Christian School officially starts Friday, Aug. 20, although it's only a half day. And Covenant School returns Aug. 18.

Across the river in Lawrence County, Ohio, all the school districts will start Wednesday, Aug. 18. In Kentucky, there's less uniformity. Boyd County Public Schools started Aug. 5, while Ashland Independent School District will welcome students back Thursday, Aug. 12. In Lawrence County, Ky., students started Monday, Aug. 2. If there are no days missed, school would end May 9.

New schools

It's been three years since students last roamed the halls of a school in the 200 block of 9th and 10th avenues in Huntington's Southside neighborhood. But there's a lot of excitement about the new Southside Elementary and Huntington Middle campus, built on the old Cammack campus.

And, there's an important piece of history that the middle school will enjoy. The facade of the old middle school, which includes a restored and now fully functional auditorium, is described as the jewel of the project.

The auditorium boasts about 200 new seats in the balcony, which hadn't been used by Cammack students for more than a decade after the fire marshal closed it off. A second exit was added to bring it up to code.

Both the new schools account for nearly 158,000 square feet, two cafeterias, one large kitchen and a bill for about $27 million.

But the project had its headaches. It ran over budget and over time, mostly because of unexpected roadblocks that caused delays and numerous change orders, sometimes for the most peculiar things. During the select demolition and asbestos abatement in late 2007 and early 2008, workers found walls behind walls, dirt under floors and had an encounter with a possum.

The schools feature numerous teacher preparation rooms, because the design committees felt it was important to provide space for collaboration and teacher meetings. There are lockers for both student bodies, and because each school is multiple stories, O'Dell said it was designed so that students will not have to traipse all over the building to reach their classes and labs.

In the middle school, each grade has its own floor, complete with computer and science labs. In the elementary school, which is two stories, Pre-K through second grade will be on the ground floor, while third through fifth grades will be on the second floor.

Getting innovative

Thanks to the School Innovations Zones Act, adopted by state lawmakers in 2009, the high schools and eight elementary schools will be trying some new ways to help with teacher collaboration and increase student achievement.

Both plans received praise in Charleston and were awarded two of the highest state grants to help with planning and implementation. The elementary plan calls for the creation of professional learning communities for teachers and providing flexible delivery of instruction to make the content more meaningful.

The plan includes Martha, Altizer, Southside, Cox Landing, Salt Rock, Peyton, Central City and Davis Creek schools. To accomplish professional learning communities, time would be set aside at least once per month for teachers to review relevant data and plan together. During that time, students would be engaged in a purposeful activity provided by school personnel, substitutes or community organizations.

The secondary schools' plan is much more in depth, but its goal is to personalize the high school experience and engage students in new ways. One of the ways to do that, Huntington High Principal Greg Webb said in an earlier interview with The Herald-Dispatch, is allowing students to graduate early. Those students who complete graduation requirements during the first semester of their senior year could graduate but would be required to start college courses during the spring semester.

Another part tied to graduation would be documentation of proficiency in order to receive a diploma. Webb said it could be tied to WESTEST 2 scores along with students demonstrating the knowledge they've learned during high school.

One of the changes also allows for students to earn embedded credit through extended learning opportunities. The latter would be used for students who spend hours outside of school learning skills that apply toward a class. The most obvious use of this will be students getting credit for P.E. based on their participation in sports. It also can apply toward music and drama. But students would present portfolios of their work to prove they have mastered the skills.

Webb said it will free up students' schedules to allow them to take other classes they are interested in or more advanced classes in math or science they wouldn't have time for before.

Embedded credit is another piece that would greatly benefit the Technology Center. Students could receive part of their core credit through participation in technical programs, said principal Brenda Tanner.

Another part of that would be to award full or partial credit to students involved in after-school, extra-curricular activities, such as speech and debate or drama. Those students, Webb said, put in countless hours preparing and performing. He said those teachers could come in later in the day or allow them to have more prep time. And students would be able to take another course during the day.

There's also a push to help struggling students succeed. This year, students who want to drop out must be 18 instead of 16. But alternative programming will be provided to re-engage those students who want to drop out. And students who fail core classes can take embedded recovery during the school day to make up those classes.

National Video

Mark Webb/The Herald-Dispatch

Tracie Smith helps four-year-old hannah Patrick pick out a backpack as they shop for school supplies at Target on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2010, in Barboursville.

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