Chicago School Board Approves Two-Year Calendar with First Semester Ending After Winter Break

The Chicago Board of Education unanimously approved school calendars for the next two academic years Thursday, settling on a schedule that will have the first semester end after winter break despite initial concerns from board members.

The calendars for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years will include 176 days for student attendance, four Teacher Institute Days, four school improvement days, four professional development days, and two days for parent-teacher conferences, according to the board’s decision.

Students will start the 2026-27 school year on Aug. 24 for grades K-12 and Aug. 25 for pre-K students, about a week later than this year’s start date. The following year, classes will begin Aug. 23 and 24 respectively for K-12 and pre-K students.

Both calendars maintain the traditional week off for Thanksgiving break and a two-week winter break. However, the controversial change places final exams after the winter break, a shift that initially drew opposition from some board members when the calendars were first presented in January.

Board member Anusha Thotakura expressed concerns about the timing during a January meeting, according to the district. “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,” Thotakura said. “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.”

Chicago Public Schools officials explored alternatives to accommodate board members’ initial pushback. Nicole Milberg, chief of teaching and learning at CPS, explained that ending the first semester before winter break would require significant calendar adjustments. The district considered eliminating the full week of Thanksgiving break and moving more professional development days to the second semester, but that scenario would have required starting school well before Labor Day to meet state requirements for instructional days.

Following board members’ request to reconsider the calendars, CPS conducted a new survey of families and staff. The results showed 55% of the 22,000 respondents preferred ending the first semester after winter break, according to district officials who presented the findings at a meeting earlier this month. Another 37% wanted the option of ending the first semester before break, while 8% supported starting school a few days earlier and shortening Thanksgiving break.

District officials did not specify how many of the survey respondents were high school students, parents, or staff members.

The approved calendars represent a compromise between maintaining popular break periods and addressing academic scheduling concerns. By keeping the traditional Thanksgiving and winter break structure, CPS avoids the complications that would come with an earlier start date or shortened holiday periods.

Board members did not discuss the calendars further before casting their unanimous vote Thursday, suggesting the survey results helped resolve earlier concerns about the semester timing.

The calendar approval provides Chicago families with advance notice for planning purposes, giving them nearly two years of scheduling certainty. The decision affects approximately 330,000 students across the district’s elementary and high schools.

The new calendars will take effect with the start of the 2026-27 school year, maintaining CPS’s current structure of professional development days and parent-teacher conference periods while implementing the post-winter break semester conclusion that proved most popular among survey respondents.