ROCK HALL — The Kent County Board of Education has approved the 2025-26 school calendar.

Each fall, Kent County Public Schools convenes a committee comprising staff and families to begin developing the next year's school calendar.

The committee began its work in late fall. An initial survey was shared asking staff, families and community members their calendar priorities, such as preferred start dates, breaks and end dates.

Maryland schools are required to have 180 days of instruction in the school calendar, which is the leading factor in determining the length of breaks and when the school year starts and ends.

The initial survey garnered 579 responses, which were reviewed by the committee and used to prepare four different calendars. Another survey sharing the four draft calendars was issued and received 609 responses. 

The Board of Education approved on Monday, March 10 the calendar draft that received the most favorable results.

As approved, the 2025-26 school year will start Monday, Aug. 25 for students in first through sixth grades and ninth grade. All students from first through 12th grades will be in buildings on Aug. 26, with prekindergarten and kindergarten starting Aug. 27.

Schools and offices will be closed Friday, Aug. 28 and Monday, Sept. 1 for the Labor Day holiday.

A fall break for students starts with parent conferences on Wednesday, Oct. 15 and a full day of staff professional development on Thursday, Oct. 16. Schools and offices closed for the Maryland State Education Association conference on Friday, Oct. 17.

Thanksgiving break will begin Wednesday, Nov. 26 with students returning Monday, Dec. 1.

Winter break runs from Monday, Dec. 22 through Sunday, Jan. 4.

There are holiday breaks in January and February for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents Day, respectively.

A spring parent-teacher conference day is set for Wednesday, March 18.

Spring break will be just over a week from Friday, April 3 through Sunday, April 12.

Schools and offices will be closed for Memorial Day, Monday, May 25.

The last day of school will be Friday, June 12.

There are monthly staff professional development days in next year's calendar. All are half days for students, except where noted: Sept. 17, Oct. 14 (full day), Nov. 6, Jan. 22, Jan. 23 (full day), Feb. 11, March 4, April 2 and May 13.

Two inclement weather days were also built into the 2025-26 calendar.

Calendar information and notifications can also be found on the Kent County Public Schools mobile app. The app can be downloaded for free from the Apple App Store and Google Play. Just search "Kent County Public Schools."