Fox Chapel Area School District families have an opportunity to weigh in on a proposed school calendar for the next school year.
Administrators presented a draft of next school year’s schedule on Jan. 13.
It is available for review on the district’s website and scheduled for formal approval on Feb. 10.
Key dates include:
• First day for students: Aug. 21.
• Thanksgiving break: Nov. 27-Dec. 1.
• Winter break: Dec. 24-Jan. 2, 2026.
• Spring break: March 30-April 3, 2026.
• Kennywood Day: May 27, 2026.
• Last day for students: June 5, 2026.
• Commencement: June 7, 2026.
The proposed calendar has no snow days.
Superintendent Mary Catherine Reljac said the district would need to make up a day if a snow day is later required.
Makeup days would be added on to the end of the school year, beginning June 8, 2026.
Students may learn virtually in the event of bad weather.
The proposed calendar has 182 days of student instruction, two more than the state minimum requirement.
‘This district, along with most districts that look a little bit like ours, have more than 180 days because we value the extra instructional time that we could get from that and the other opportunities that provided for us,” Reljac said.
“I don’t want to think of those days as extra days. Those are valuable instructional days that all of our contractual bargaining agreements are built around. All of our schedules are built around them, and I think that there is an importance to maintaining that instructional time.”
The administration has traditionally introduced the following school year’s calendar in January.
District spokeswoman Bonnie Berzonski said the advance notice helps parents and staffers plan their schedules.
“We often get calls from parents that want to set up summer vacations, summer classes, things for their students to do in the summer,” she said. “They do kind of want to know: when will the year end, when will the year begin, in order to plan their own calendars.”
Board recognition
January is School Board Recognition Month.
Kerr Elementary fifth graders presented board members with gifts and talked about how their decisions impact their learning and happiness.
The gift was a picture frame with two young foxes playing together on a crisp morning.
Principal Katelyn Toth also showed a video of other elementary students expressing their appreciation for the board.
People can watch the school board recognition on the district’s YouTube page. It starts shortly before the 12-minute mark of the Jan. 13 board meeting video.
Board members and the superintendent thanked the students for their efforts.