The newly approved 2021-22 Norwich Free Academy calendar will change the second Monday in October from Columbus Day to Indigenous People Day. The board of trustees voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the calendar with the change, with board Chairman DeVol Joyner thanking Head of School Brian Kelly for the proposed change. The Norwich Board of Education made the same change earlier this month.

Kelly said Thursday the change was not politically motivated, adding that NFA has an obligation to remain apolitical. “Our educational philosophy teaches respect for differing opinions, ideas and beliefs, but also a responsibility to teach more accurate and comprehensive chronicles and differing viewpoints about our country’s history,” Kelly said in an email statement Thursday.