Arlington Public Schools are the latest in Northern Virginia to decide to start classes before Labor Day beginning next school year.
The first day of classes will be Aug. 31, one week before Labor Day.
Schools in Falls Church, as well as Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties have also decided to start classes before Labor Day.
Alexandria Public Schools are still set to start the day after Labor Day, Sept. 8.
Virginia’s so-called “Kings Dominion Law,” preventing schools from opening before Labor Day without a waiver, was repealed last year.
The school calendar the Arlington board just approved also includes a 10-day winter break from Dec. 21 to Jan. 1, and a spring break from March 29 to April 2.
The last day of school will be June 16 for high school students and June 18 for elementary and middle school students.
To relieve school overcrowding in some areas, the school board also approved moving students at three elementary schools to different locations starting in the 2021-2022 school year.
The changes include:
- most students at McKinley Elementary moving to the new Reed Elementary.
- the Arlington Traditional School (ATS) program moving to McKinley’s current building.
- the Key Immersion program moving to the current ATS building.
- the current Key building becoming a new neighborhood school.
The school district will begin the process of reassessing elementary school boundaries this fall, and any boundary changes would also take effect in the 2021-2022 school year.
The complete 2020-2021 calendar for Arlington Public Schools can be found on the school system’s website.
