SerpApi.Org
WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — The lazy days of summer are numbered for students across the D.C. region, with the largest school systems in the DMV set to open their doors in the final week of August.
In the District, DC Public Schools students return on Monday, Aug 24, for the 2026-27 school year, with pre-kindergarten students following on a staggered start date of Thursday, Aug. 27. Families with children in D.C.’s public charter schools should check directly with their schools, since charters set their own calendars.
In Virginia, Fairfax County Public Schools, the region’s largest district, also starts on Monday, Aug 24. Just across the state line in Maryland, both Montgomery County Public Schools and Prince George’s County Public Schools begin the following day, Tuesday, Aug. 25. Prince George’s has scheduled Monday, Aug 24, as a student orientation day ahead of the first full day.
Those four systems alone account for the majority of students in the immediate D.C. area, but start dates vary across the rest of the region.
Most other districts in Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland also open during the last full week of August. Families in the City of Alexandria, Loudoun, Arlington, Alexandria, Prince William, Howard, Anne Arundel, and Charles counties can confirm their exact first day on their district’s website, and Maryland maintains a statewide list of opening and closing dates for all of its systems.
Looking further ahead, the major local districts have largely aligned their breaks this year. DC Public Schools, Fairfax and the Maryland systems all have winter break running from late December into early January, and each has spring break scheduled for late March.
DCPS wraps up its year on June 17, 2027, while Fairfax finishes June 16, 2027, though those dates can slide later if snow days are used.
For parents, the next few weeks mean the usual scramble of supply shopping, physicals and bus-route planning. Marking the first day on the calendar now is a good place to start.
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