Fairfax County School Calendar Revised for 2014-2015

The Fairfax County School Board on Thursday approved revisions to the proposed master calendar for Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). The 2014-15 school year will begin on Tuesday, September 2, and end on Friday, June 19, 2015. 

Although the revisions are minor, the calendar differs from the previous years in the following ways: 

• Adding four strategic planning days for teachers on September 29, February 2, March 16, and April 6. The strategic planning days will be student holidays. 
  
• The strategic planning day on Monday, April 6, follows spring break, providing a student holiday immediately following the break. 
  
• Two-hour early release on the last day of the quarter and the day before Thanksgiving break and winter break. Students will be released two hours early on the last day of school instead of attending school for two hours and then being dismissed. On early release days, teachers will use the time for teacher directed time, plus job-embedded collaborative time. 
  
• A two week-long winter break. School will reopen on Monday, January 5, 2015.

In total, the revised 2014-15 school year calendar includes seven teacher workdays to offer teachers time for staff meetings and professional development, as well as three teacher staff development days, four strategic planning days, and six days with a two-hour early release for teacher directed time.

The length of the school year remains the same, but the number of days for students has been reduced from 183 days to 180 days. By eliminating the shortened Monday schedule for elementary schools, FCPS was able to make changes to the calendar that comply with state accreditation for 990 hours of instruction. The change to 990 instructional hours also eliminates the need to make up inclement weather days at the end of the school year if fewer than 13 days are missed. 

More information is available online.