More Mississippi school districts move to modified school calendars. Here's what to know

Many Mississippi schools have recently adopted a modified school calendar returning to the classroom in July instead of an early August back-to-school date.

The Mississippi Department of Education stated that in 2022 just 12 school districts operated on the modified calendar. This year, 29 schools have adopted the modified school calendar.

According to Senate Bill 2361, "Local schools would establish the Mississippi Modified School Calendar Grant Program, through which school districts could apply for funds to cover the initial costs of implementing a modified calendar year. Under this calendar type, the traditional summer break would be shortened and replaced with shorter, more frequent intercessions evenly dispersed throughout the calendar year.

"The length of the school year (180 days) would not change. However, schools could offer remediation or enrichment activities for students during intercessions."

Director of Communications at Clinton Public Schools Robert Chapman said he believes the new modified calendar will be helpful for both students and teachers. Clinton is one of the districts to adopt the calendar this year.

"With the new calendar, we have put together extra remediation programs," Chapman said. "Although students don't return until Monday, July 24, we are very hopeful this will help students with academics given the additional weeks of school."

Chapman said the calendar would also benefit teacher retention based on a survey sent out during the fall of last year before adopting the new schedule.

"There was an 84% vote to favor it," Chapman said. "Once we realized that the teachers and the staff members were in favor of it, we decided to issue another survey to parents giving parents the option to voice their opinion whether were in favor of it or not in favor of it."

Chapman said in that survey, 70% of parents were in favor of it. The overwhelming support of teachers and more than half of parents will give students more time to focus ... and get a jump start on their academics."

Chapman said students' fall breaks and holidays will remain the same.

Below are the new schools with a modified calendar along with the start dates for students and teachers to return for the current calendar year and schools that adopted last year, according to the MDE:

MSU startup gains $250K from Google fund

A business that launched in Mississippi State’s Entrepreneurship Center is receiving $250,000 and widespread recognition as one of only 24 companies across North America selected for the award from the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund, according to an MSU release.

Buzzbassador’s CEO and co-founder Calvin Waddy, a 2018 MSU College of Business alumnus from Madison, has been identified by Google as a top emerging tech founder, selected from thousands of founders and tech companies evaluated for the award.

Buzzbassador is a software-as-a-service application that automates influencer marketing for growing consumer brands. It is the flagship product of Rocketing Systems, Inc., a software company — founded in 2020 by business students working under the guidance of MSU’s E-Center — that creates automated e-commerce and marketing solutions.

"The Google-backed tech startup now has over 140,000 users globally and has generated $20 million in sales for over 450 businesses," according to MSU. "Waddy and co-founder Shelby Baldwin, a 2019 MSU College of Business graduate from Ridgeland who serves as the company’s chief operating officer, also has claimed top honors at numerous business pitch competitions and was named among the Southeast’s Top Technology Startups by Venture Atlanta in 2020."

Waddy said acceptance into Google for Startups Black Founders Funds marks a milestone in the company's journey.

"Buzzbassador’s acceptance into Google for Startups Black Founders Fund marks a pivotal milestone in our company’s journey and growth trajectory," Waddy said. "Google’s investment and belief in our company is a testament to our team’s hard work and dedication to our mission."

Waddy said the partnership with Google will allow the team to tap into Google’s vast system of advanced technologies and expertise from its global network. He added that Google’s backing of an MSU-founded startup “is a strong sign of not only the quality of a business education at MSU but also of the caliber of entrepreneurship support provided by MSU’s Entrepreneurship Center.”

Local law student recognized

Chad Thornton of Jackson was one of 12 graduates of the Louisiana State University Law Class of 2023 to have been selected for induction into The Order of the Barristers, a national honorary organization whose purpose is the encouragement of oral advocacy and brief writing skills through effective law school oral advocacy programs.

More than 100 law schools have chapters of the Order of the Barristers.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi schools starting school earlier with modified calendars