Chesterfield County Public Schools will move to a pre-Labor Day school opening during the 2021- 22 school year. The School Board also approved the 2021-22 school calendar for two elementary schools operating on a year-round school calendar.
The School Board action for the 2021-22 school year does not impact the 2020-21 school calendar.
Changes to state law allow school divisions across the state to open two weeks prior to Labor Day. (In accordance with law, Chesterfield County schools will be closed for a four-day weekend to recognize Labor Day.) The school year will end two weeks earlier than normal. Traditional schools will start on Aug. 23, 2021 and end on June 3, 2022. (Bellwood and Falling Creek elementary schools will go back to a year-round schedule for the 2021-22 school year.)
“We took the pre-Labor Day calendar proposal forward to the School Board nearly 16 months in advance because we want to provide families and staff members with enough time to prepare for this change,” Superintendent Dr. Merv Daugherty said. “Starting pre-Labor Day will allow our teachers to align their curriculum in a way that will enhance learning and better support our students’ academic needs by maximizing the instruction time available prior to mid-year and end- of-year testing.”
Benefits of a pre-Labor Day start include:
The approved calendar for the 2021-22 school year meets state requirements of 990 hours of instruction at the elementary school level, 560 hours of middle school instruction in the four core subject areas, and 140 hours for a standard credit at the high school level.
The 2021-22 school year calendar and the 2021-22 year-round school calendar for Bellwood and Falling Creek elementary schools can be found at https://mychesterfieldschools.com/about/calendars/.