Approved Calendar Focuses on Academic Excellence, Equity, and Opportunity for Next Three Years
Hello FCPS Community,
Last night, the Fairfax County School Board approved a calendar for the 2023-24, 2024-25, and 2025-26 school years. The approved calendar was an amended version of the draft BLUE calendar. It reflects our continued commitment to academic excellence, equity and opportunity, recognizing the diversity of our students and community, while also continuing to support the growth and professional development of our teachers and staff.
This calendar takes the needs of our students, staff, and families into consideration and keeps our focus on high-quality teaching and learning, and continued access to academic opportunities and supports for all students.
This is the first time that FCPS has designated a calendar for three school years. Community input guided this decision, based on a need to plan well in advance.
The first day of the 2023-24 school year will be August 21, and the last day will be June 12. Cultural observances and holidays have been adjusted for future calendars, depending on whether they fall on a weekday or weekend.
Other calendar features include:
- 180 days of instruction to maximize permitted instructional time.
- 15 professional workdays for teachers and staff to ensure the most highly-qualified instructional staff are serving our students and to allow staff time to close out each quarter.
- Recognition of key community cultural observances or religious holidays.
- A start date that allows for almost two full weeks of instruction before the Labor Day holiday. (School divisions that start before Labor Day are required to take both the Friday and Monday of the Labor Day holiday weekend as student holidays.)
- A two-week winter break.
- A spring break that is aligned with surrounding counties and school divisions.
Developing a school year calendar is truly a balancing act, involving multiple factors that must be considered. Those factors include community input. More than 78,000 community members participated in our initial Calendar Survey last November. We offered another feedback opportunity from January 24 to February 6, where more than 37,000 individuals gave input on four draft calendar options.
While it would be impossible to create a calendar that pleases everyone, we believe that our newly approved calendar will provide every student with ample time to access the rigorous instruction and resources they need to succeed.
Thank you for being a part of this important process. Have a joyful weekend.
Dr. Michelle C. Reid
Superintendent
Fairfax County Public Schools