Framingham's First Day Of School: Bus Staffing, Important Dates

FRAMINGHAM, MA — Framingham Public Schools students are set to return to the classroom on Wednesday, marking the official end of summer for all local enrollees.

While some things are new in the district, one thing remains, unfortunately, familiar.

Here are a few things to know for the upcoming year:

New Framingham Schools Podcast

The district announced recently that Superintendent Bob Tremblay will be hosting a new podcast — "The Bobcast" — during the 2024-2025 school year. Episodes will arrive monthly featuring faculty, staff and possibly others from the public schools community.

The podcast is available to watch on YouTube or to listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

"This is in partnership with Framingham Education Channel and Access Framingham to share Framingham Public Schools updates and engage the community around all things FPS from staff interest stories to school-related topics with experts within our Framingham Community," the district said in a social media post.

Read more: Framingham Schools Launch Podcast Ahead Of 2024-2025 School Year

Bus Staffing Update

A MetroWest Daily News report found that, yet again, the district's bussing vendor is short on staff.

North Reading Transportation, or NRT, is contracted to staff 77 buses for home-to-school transportation. However, the company is 24 drivers short.

Company officials cite a national driver shortage in their reasoning for how this is happening, while district officials are trying to piece together recommendations for students who won't have access to the bussing they were promised.

For more, read the report here.

And finally, here are some of the important 2024-25 school year dates to get on the calendar:

• Start date: Sept. Aug. 28
• Kindergarten start date: Sept. 4
• Professional development day, early release: Sept. 19
• Rosh Hashanah: Oct. 3
• Professional development day, early release: Oct. 10
• Indigenous Peoples' Day: Oct. 14
• Election Day: Tuesday, Nov. 5
• Veterans Day: Nov. 11
• Professional development day, early release: Nov. 14
• Thanksgiving break: Nov. 27-29
• Professional development day, early release: Dec. 12
• Winter break: Dec. 23-Jan. 1
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day, no school: Monday, Jan. 20
• High School early release for midterms: Jan. 21-24
• Early release, parent conferences: Jan. 23
• Early release, parent conferences: Jan. 30
• Early release, parent conferences: Feb. 6
• February recess: Feb. 17-21
• Professional development day, early release: March 13
• FTA professional development day, no school: March 21
• Professional development day, early release: April 10
• Spring break: April 18-25
• Early release, parent conferences: May 15
• Early release, parent conferences: May 22
• Memorial Day: May 26
• Early release, parent conferences: May 29
• Framingham High School Graduation: June 6
• Last day: June 18