School Schedules

Start times. Snow days. Year-round schooling. Block scheduling. Four-day weeks. Get research and insights into school calendars

Explainer

year round explainer
Year-Round Schooling Explained
Get the facts about year-round schooling, including pros and cons, statistics, and key definitions.
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Teacher planning time. Planner book with a stopwatch that is adding minutes.
Collage by Vanessa Solis/Education Week + E+ with Canva
School & District Management What the Research Says How These Schools Doubled Teacher Planning Time
A California pilot program adjusted school schedules to give teachers more time.
Sarah D. Sparks, May 6, 2026
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6 min read
Figures are swept up to a large magnet outside of a school. Teacher retention.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + Canva
School & District Management Opinion If We Want Teachers to Stay, Principals Must Lead Differently
Here are three ways school leaders can make teaching feel more sustainable.
S. Kambar Khoshaba, May 5, 2026
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4 min read
A teacher and rising kindergarten students at Vose Elementary in Beaverton during story time on April 16, 2026. Gov. Tina Kotek asked the State Board of Education on Thursday to prohibit school districts from using student-contact days as furlough days to balance budgets, in order to preserve instructional time.
Story time in a kindergarten class at Vose Elementary School in Beaverton, Ore., on April 16, 2026. Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has issued an executive order in hopes of blocking any further erosion of instructional time in a state that has one of the shortest school years in the country.
Mark Graves/The Oregonian via TNS
States A State With a Short School Year Wants to Stop the 'Bleeding' of Classroom Time
A new order aims to discourage districts from reducing instructional hours to fill budget gaps.
Mark Walsh, April 17, 2026
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4 min read
Fifth-grader Willow Miller raises the U.S. and Nevada flags in a daily flag-raising ceremony to start the school day in Good Springs, Nev., on March 30, 2022. Teacher Abbey Crouse assists at right. The school, along with an elementary, middle and high school in neighboring Sandy Valley, are the only schools in the mostly urban Clark County School District to meet just four days a week.
A student raises the U.S. and Nevada flags to start the school day on March 30, 2022, in Goodsprings, Nev., where the elementary school meets four days week. A growing number of schools have turned to four-day weeks over the past two decades, sometimes for budget reasons, other times for teacher recruitment and retention. But the payoff isn't always clear-cut.
Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP
School & District Management Explainer The 4-Day School Week: What Research Shows About the Alternative Schedule
More schools have shifted to the four-day week. How common is it? Does it save money and attract teachers?
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, April 9, 2026
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7 min read
A Mansfield Senior High School student rests during his health class on sleep, in Mansfield, Ohio, Dec. 6, 2024.
A high school student rests during a health class about sleep habits in Mansfield, Ohio, on Dec. 6, 2024. Researchers found that the number of teens getting insufficient sleep, defined as seven hours or less a night, rose from 69% in 2007 to 78% in 2023.
Phil Long/AP
Student Well-Being & Movement Teens Are Sleeping Less. Why Schools Should Be Worried
Lack of sleep is directly tied to lower academic performance.
Arianna Prothero, March 17, 2026
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4 min read
Wall clock and calendar with the number of days and clock close up.
iStock/Getty
Student Absenteeism What Happens When a Shorter School Calendar Meets Chronic Absenteeism?
Short academic years hinder efforts to catch up students, study finds.
Sarah D. Sparks, March 17, 2026
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4 min read
artistic collage of teacher under pressure
Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva
Teaching Profession Teacher Morale in 2026: Five Takeaways
See five highlights from EdWeek's annual, national survey of U.S. teachers.
Holly Kurtz & Maya Riser-Kositsky, March 4, 2026
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1 min read
An illustration of a professional female holding the lines that divide the week days of a calendar and removing the first line so that it's knocking the letters MON off the grid.
iStock/Getty
Recruitment & Retention What the Research Says Do 4-Day School Weeks Attract and Retain Better Teachers? What the Largest Study Yet Says
Shortened schedules may do less than district leaders hope to improve turnover and teacher quality.
Sarah D. Sparks, January 23, 2026
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3 min read
Illustration of calendar and AI assistant.
iStock
Artificial Intelligence Q&A How One District Uses AI to Build More Efficient Master School Schedules
In tight budgetary times, AI can find savings in schools' class schedules.
Arianna Prothero, December 2, 2025
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5 min read
A kindergarten student uses the balance beam during recess at Kingsford Heights Elementary in La Porte, Ind., on Oct. 27, 2025.
A kindergarten student uses the balance beam during recess at Kingsford Heights Elementary in La Porte, Ind., on Oct. 27, 2025. Elementary teachers generally believe recess is important, but there's no consensus on how much per day is ideal, new survey data show.
Elizabeth Bunton/La Porte County Herald-Dispatch via AP
Student Well-Being & Movement From Our Research Center Do Students Get Enough Recess? What Teachers Think
The EdWeek Research Center surveyed teachers about how much recess their students need, and get.
Elizabeth Heubeck, November 19, 2025
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5 min read
Illustration of people sticking post-it paper of business plan short notes on big calendar.
iStock/Getty
Student Absenteeism A Guide to Building a School Calendar That Maximizes Attendance
Districts strategically schedule long weekends, work days, and spirit weeks to help boost attendance.
Evie Blad, October 27, 2025
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5 min read
Worshippers pray at the Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple in Frisco, Texas, on Oct. 22, 2022. Worshippers celebrated Dhanteras, which is the first night of the Hindu holiday Diwali.
Worshippers pray at the Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple in Frisco, Texas, on Oct. 22, 2022, the first night of the Hindu holiday Diwali. More districts are putting Diwali and other non-Christian holidays on school calendars as populations of Asian students increase.
Andy Jacobsohn/AP
Families & the Community As Schools Grow More Culturally Diverse, Calendar Planning Gets More Complicated
Districts have added holidays like Diwali to their calendars to reflect demographic shifts in enrollment.
Evie Blad, October 14, 2025
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6 min read
The Ocean City Boardwalk is pictured on Aug. 14, 2025, in Ocean City, Md.
The Ocean City Boardwalk is pictured on Aug. 14, 2025, in Ocean City, Md. Some states, including Maryland, have debated whether schools should start after Labor Day to maximize tourism dollars.
Robyn Stevens Brody/Sipa via AP
School & District Management Should Schools Start Before or After Labor Day? The Debate, Explained
Most districts now start before Labor Day. For holdouts, it's often about more than just tradition.
Elizabeth Heubeck, August 29, 2025
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4 min read
Calendars, clocks, scheduling and logistical challenges.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva
School & District Management Opinion How I Design a Master Schedule No One Hates
Here are the three priorities that guide my school’s planning process.
Ian Knox, August 5, 2025
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5 min read