And a full week off at Thanksgiving

The first day of school next year will be Tuesday, Sept. 5, the day after Labor Day, a change from the usual pre-Labor Day start, in the calendar approved by the School Committee in a 7-0 vote Tuesday night. That is partly due to how certain religious holidays fall this year and partly because the district is able to count some staff professional development days as part of the state-required school days. 

Kindergarten orientation will take place Friday, Sept. 8, with the two days preceding it for individual kindergarten readiness testing – something that hasn’t been done in person since 2019. 

The other big change in next year’s school calendar is a week off the week of Thanksgiving. Asst. Supt. Michael Podraza outlined the reasons for this, noting the significant absenteeism on the day before Thanksgiving last fall. The plan is to hold professional development and parent-teacher conference days on the Monday and Tuesday of that week, with Wednesday being off for both staff and students.

The 2023-24 school year retains the weeklong February and April breaks. There are also four half days sprinkled in throughout the year, in October, January, March and May – months without significant breaks. 

The last day of school is scheduled for Tuesday, June 18, though weather-type closures could push that to June 25, depending on the number of days. If any extra days end up being needed, Wednesday, June 19, would be off for the Juneteenth holiday.

Find the calendar here: 2023-24 EGPS Calendar.