The School District of Collier County's 2009-2010 school calendar is now available online, and in checking it out, you will notice that it contains seven early dismissal days. As of this school year, the early dismissal time for elementary, middle, and high school students will be three hours earlier than the dismissal time on other days. Until this year, early dismissal had meant two hours earlier, not three.

The early dismissal day is used as an in-service day for all school staff. But the district's Chief Instructional Officer, Martha Hayes, points out that "two hours just isn't enough time for the school improvement planning that needs to take place, and the work needing to be done to design challenging and engaging lessons for our students."

The scheduled early dismissal days for the 2009-2010 school year are: September 16, October 8, December 8, February 9, March 4, April 21, and June 10 - the very last day of the school year. Middle and high school students will also be released three hours early on exam days. The district hopes that this advance notice will allow for after-school childcare arrangements to be made.

To view the entire 2009-1010 school calendar, go to the home page of the district Web site (www.collierschools.com) and look for the back-to-school information posted under "Looking For?"