It won’t feel like a day off, but it won’t feel like a normal school day either when Spring-Ford institutes early dismissal days on the schedule next year.
The School Board passed the proposed 2026-2027 school calendar April 27. The calendar remains similar to the one from this year, but five early dismissal days are now included. The first will be on Jan. 27, 2027 and the last one is on students’ last day of school.
“The goal was to increase the amount of Professional Development time,” explained Dr. Kelly Murray, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching, Learning, and Innovation. “There are many ways that this could be done, and each approach has its pros and cons. We discussed having full days, instead of half days, but we also wanted to balance the amount of time that students are not in the buildings. In fact, next year’s calendar includes two additional instructional days for students.
“We took the two full days of professional development and spread them out over five early dismissal days. Technically, the schedule is not a “half-day” otherwise dismissal would be much earlier. Elementary students (Grades 1-6) will dismiss at 1:00 p.m., Grades 7 & 8 will dismiss at 12:05 p.m. and 9-12 will dismiss at 11:40 p.m.”
Administration built these days into the second half of the year, giving teachers dedicated in-service time that is required by the state.
“Over the course of the last several years, we have seen an increase in the amount of required training that districts are required to do,” Murray said. “In the past six years, the state has added more than 20 hours of mandated training for educators. …
“Although our teachers are amazing at what they do, it is important to support teachers with professional development to ensure that we are staying current with research and practices.”
Students will still arrive and leave school at the usual times, major holidays will remain as full days off, and the final day of school remains the same only now it’s an early dismissal day.
While the change seems minor, it changes the rhythm of the school year in a way where students and families notice.
For students, the early dismissal days will break up the routine of full-length schedules, particularly in the second half of the school year. Students at the secondary level might see them as a short break in the academic pace.
With the early dismissal days beginning in late January, they fall between the longest stretch of the school year: winter break and spring break. This gives students a built-in break during a time that usually has none. Instead of waiting until spring break or the last day of school, students will have something to break up the long stretches of the weeks in between, even if it is only half a day.
“It’s nice, because the stretch between winter break and spring break feels so long,” sophomore Ben Needles said. “Now we get a day off in between.”
For families, the shift is less about whether there is time off and more about how it is structured. Unlike full in-service days, where students stay home entirely, half days require mid-day adjustments. Parents of younger children who are used to planning around full-day closures may now have to account for early dismissals instead.
“I probably won’t be able to hang out with my friends after the half-days,” said sophomore Emma Ruhl. “My parents would need me to watch my siblings.”
By sending students home early, teachers can use that time to review student progress, coordinate across grade levels, and prepare upcoming material without interruption from students. It’s work that typically gets squeezed into short planning periods or pushed outside of school hours or in-service days.
The shift reflects a broader trend in education. Rather than extending the school year, districts are adjusting schedules to create space for teacher development within the existing calendar. Many schools in the Philadelphia area are also adapting their calendars with more half-days to balance instructional time with teacher workload.
“There are many schools who implement some form of this,” Murray said. “Some districts choose to implement full day PD sessions. Some districts will have a day every month, etc. It all depends on the needs. We chose to do early dismissals because it protected the day of instruction, but also provided us with the time for Professional Development.”
