The Chicago Board of Education has approved calendars for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years, following earlier concerns about when the first semester should end. The board’s decision was unanimous during its meeting on Thursday.
Each school year will include 176 student attendance days, four Teacher Institute Days, four school improvement days, four professional development days, and two parent-teacher conference days. For the 2026-27 academic year, K-12 students will begin classes on August 24 and pre-K students on August 25. In the following year, K-12 students will start on August 23 and pre-K students on August 24. Both calendars maintain a week-long Thanksgiving break and a two-week winter break.
A key change is that final exams for the first semester will take place after winter break instead of before it. This adjustment raised concerns among some board members when the proposal was initially discussed in January.
“The No. 1 concern I hear from students is about mental health, and having a break as an opportunity for resetting, recovering, and spending time with their families is really important,” appointed board member Anusha Thotakura said during a January meeting to review that month’s board meeting agenda. “If you have testing for second quarter after winter break, students won’t have that opportunity to reset, relax, and come into the new year energized.”
Nicole Milberg, chief of teaching and learning at CPS, explained that ending the first semester before winter break would require changes such as shortening Thanksgiving break or shifting professional development days to later in the year. However, these changes would mean starting school earlier than usual to meet state requirements.
In response to concerns from board members and community feedback requests, CPS surveyed families again about their preferences. According to officials at a recent meeting reviewing Thursday’s agenda, out of approximately 22,000 respondents: 55% preferred ending the first semester after winter break; 37% wanted it before winter break; and 8% favored an earlier start date combined with a shorter Thanksgiving break. It remains unclear how many respondents were high school students versus parents or staff.
The calendars were approved without further discussion by board members ahead of their vote.
Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.
