Loudoun County has recently come out with five new schedule options for the school year 2028-2029. According to Fox 5, the plan in the works consists of a potential “year-round” schedule that’s designed to “combat the ‘summer slide’.”
The five option choices range from different start and end times to the school year, different lengths of breaks, and different amounts of planning days for teachers. Many students and teachers from Loudoun County and other districts are concerned about how these changes could impact their schedules and whether similar calendar shifts could spread to other counties.
Option 1 of the Loudoun County School Calendar beginning on August 24, 2028, and ending on June 22, 2029, giving students 180 days of instructional time. The main differences seen in this calendar option compared to the current calendar are the lack of teacher workdays given, but all holidays are still in regulation, with Spring Break lined up with Easter.
Option 2 of the calendar begins and ends the same as option 1, beginning on August 24, 2028, and ending on June 22, 2029 including exactly 180 instructional days. Similar to option 1, this calendar keeps all of the same holidays in regulation, while Spring Break would line up with the start of the 3rd quarter.
Option 3 of the calendar begins and ends earlier than the previous two options, beginning on August 17, 2028, and ending on June 15, 2029, giving students only 179 instructional days. All holidays would stay in regulation as normal, but Spring Break would line up with Easter, same as option 1.
Option 4 of the calendar begins and ends the same as option 3, beginning on August 17, 2028, and ending on June 15, 2029, with one less day, as they all add up to 179 instructional days. As this is similar to option 3, starting school earlier on Thursday along with keeping all of the holidays in regulation, Spring Break would line up with the 3rd quarter, instead of Easter, similar to option 2.
Option 5 of the calendar begins and ends even earlier than the previous four options, beginning on August 10, 2028, and ending on June 13, 2029, giving students 180 days of instructional time. Only federal holidays will be included for student days off, with a two-week Fall Break, and a two-week Spring Break, lined up with the 3rd quarter.
These changes showcase a shift toward shorter summers and more breaks throughout the school year. Some people think this could help with learning while others worry about summer plans and activities. Students in Fairfax County are also concerned, since this could spread to other districts. Loudoun County is still reviewing the options, and the feedback will help decide the final calendar for the 2028-29 school year.
So what does this mean for us? Students from Hayfield have started sharing their opinions on the proposed calendars.
“My initial reaction to the year school calendar as a student is kind of overwhelming. It’s a lot of holidays and dates that many clubs, sports, and many events would have to work around, especially if they were preplanned,” junior Justin Pagdanganan said. “I don’t think it would be better for students because students should be given a long break where they are taught and guided not by teachers but by themselves. It gives them the opportunity to start projects, plan for the upcoming school year, use their free time wisely, and build discipline the same way the college experience is built.”
“My first reaction to a year-round school calendar is immediately no. I think the shorter, more frequent breaks would help me learn worse. Without the summer break, I would probably constantly feel burnt out even with the frequent breaks because I’m in school the whole year, not time to fully decompress from school,” junior Akosua Kankam said.
“It really depends on individual circumstances. Some students rely on summer jobs or programs, while others might struggle without the structure of school,” junior Leena Winston said.
“I think if the county agreed with having no more summers and cutting it down into small breaks, then it would have a really big decrease in teens’ academic motivation. Us teens already have a hard time going to school almost everyday throughout fall, winter, and spring, so having to go to school in the summer would significantly burn out teens,” freshman Addyson Blackston said. “I think personally it can be very beneficial to us and our own futures, but I would at least need a 2-3 week break somewhere in the summer, just like we have for winter break. In conclusion I think this would not be a good idea for our county due to how teens already act about going to school everyday now.”
“I personally am neutral about it since, yeah, we get a long break, but I’m stuck in the mindset that there’s school in 6 days,” junior Lena Tran said. “With school currently, there’s a solid time and date that school ends so students are out of the school mindset and how there’s so much homework but a block of time off.”
In an email interview with Fairfax County School Board member Ryan McElveen, he reported that FCPS has looked at year-round school options before as pilot programs, but they have never moved forward with them.
School board members are voting tonight “on whether to study year-round school as part of a longer list of calendar amendments,” McElveen said.
