Montgomery County Public Schools

In accordance with Policy IDA, staff in the Office of the Chief Operating Officer solicited input on drafting a proposed calendar, utilizing focus groups and seeking feedback via the Montgomery County Public Schools website.

The Policy Management Committee began its review of the 2018-2019 school calendar on July 12, 2017, with an overview of parameters and scheduling elements. On Sept. 19, 2017, the Policy Management Committee continued its review and discussed possible calendar scenarios, as well as the calendar development and feedback processes. On Oct. 10, 2017, the Board of Education received an overview of the calendar parameters and elements, as well as the processes to solicit and receive stakeholder input. On Oct. 24, 2017, the Policy Management Committee received a summary of feedback received on the calendar, reviewed the superintendent of schools’ proposed calendar, and proposed three additional calendars for the Board of Education’s consideration. The Board of Education approved the final version of the calendar on Nov. 14, 2017.

The first day of school is Sept. 4, 2018, the Tuesday after Labor Day, and the last scheduled day of school for students is Thursday, June 13, 2019.

No. An executive order from Gov. Larry Hogan mandates that public schools in Maryland begin no earlier than the Tuesday after Labor Day and end no later than June 15, including make-up days for emergency closings.

The calendar includes 182 instructional days. This is two more than the minimum required by the state; however, there have been 184 instructional days in previous years.

Yes. State law requires that schools are closed on:

• Election Day, Nov. 6, 2018;

• Thanksgiving and the Friday after, Nov. 22 and 23, 2018;

• Dec. 24, 2018, through Jan. 1, 2019;

• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, Jan. 21, 2019;

• Presidents’ Day, Feb. 18, 2019;

• the Friday before and the Monday after Easter, April 19 and 22, 2019; and

• Memorial Day, May 27, 2019.

There will be operational closures on Sept.10, 2018 and Sept. 19, 2018, which coincide with Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Yes; however, it will be shortened. To comply with Hogan’s executive order, the traditional MCPS spring break was reduced from four non-instructional days to two. This results in a six-day spring break, from Wednesday, April 17 to Monday, April 22.   

Days 181 and 182 will serve as make-up instructional days. Additionally, the remaining two non-instructional days of spring break will also serve as make-up instructional days, if needed, to address previous emergency closures in the school year.

There will be six early release days for grades K-12 that can be used for grading, planning, etc. Additionally, there are two non-instructional grading and planning days: one at the end of the second marking period and one on June 5, coinciding with Eid al-Fitr.

With the number of student instructional days established, MCPS will begin to identify the staff work day schedule, including the number and placement of pre-service days.