For years, the first day of school at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School has been placed in the second week of September, causing the last day of school to be around the third week of June. However, in 2021, the Regional School Board made the collective decision to shift the MLWGS schedule forward by two weeks in the 2022-23 academic year. Following this new schedule, students returned to school two weeks earlier than usual, on August 22, 2022, and will get out of school on June 1, 2023.

This change comes after the passage of House Bill 1652, which mandates that the first day of school be scheduled no earlier than 14 days before Labor Day. This new legislation overrides the previously accepted “Kings Dominion Law,” which prohibited schools from opening before Labor Day. Following this change, many counties, such as Chesterfield, Henrico, Hopewell, Powhatan, and King & Queen, have since moved their schedules forward. By adjusting MLWGS’s start date, the school’s schedule has increased synchronization with those of the counties that it serves. Additionally, according to the Regional School Board, the new schedule better aligns with testing schedules at the state and national levels. The Board also states that the modified schedule will conform to VHSL dates more easily, though the Activities Director notes that due to the change, the spring sports season will extend past the end of the school year into June.

Student feelings about the early start are mixed. Because this summer was a transition period between the old and the new schedules, students lost two weeks of summer. Some feel that they would have liked to have a longer summer and a chance to get more work done, while others are glad for the change. Aleah Schobitz (‘25) says, “Things that I would normally get taken care of before school, like getting new glasses and doctors appointments, are now during school.” She also adds that, “It would have been nice to see my friends a little bit more.” Other students point out that the new schedule actually puts them out of alignment with their siblings’ schedules. Ben Gonzalez (‘26) explains that, due to the early start, “My brothers started later so I wasn’t able to hang out with them.” On the other hand, many students report that they don’t particularly mind the new schedule. In fact, some even say that they prefer this schedule over the old one. When asked what she thought about the new schedule, Mahrosh Gill (‘25) said, “I feel like the calendar looks better this year! Looking at where we are now, in week five, [the change] seems like a great idea, because time is flying.”

Canceled vacations and a rush to get summer assignments done are stories commonly heard during this early start. Whether or not students prefer the new schedule over the old one remains a debated question. However, in general, it seems most students developed a liking to the modified schedule. Schobitz, despite her earlier dissatisfaction with the early start, says, “It would be fine if we stayed, now that we were on this schedule.” Adam Asim, graduating in 2023, says he thinks it will be “kind of nice for the seniors next year because they get to graduate a little earlier and get a little bit more of a summer before going off to college.” Currently, the Regional School Board has no plans to deviate from this schedule for the 2023- 2024 school year. Only time will tell if this decision will result in the benefits it was intended to bring.

Information retrieved from Old Dominion University, Virginia’s Legislative Information System, and the MLWGS Regional Board Meeting Agendas.