School Committee sets 2026-2027 school calendar

The calendar for the 2026-2027 academic year for Dartmouth Public Schools has been set.

The school year will begin on Wednesday, Sept. 2, and the last day is set for Thursday, June 17.

Unlike previous years, students will have Dec. 23 off, with Tuesday, Dec. 22 set to be the last full day of school before winter break begins.

At a meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 27, School Committee member Chris Oliver spoke in favor of giving students Dec. 23 off, pointing out that there is often little learning being done on the half day before break.

"I've heard from some parents and teachers that it's really difficult to compete with Santa Claus," Oliver said.

Superintendent June Saba-Maguire did raise one area of concern with this decision, noting that if the district needs to cancel school because of snow or other inclement weather it could push the end of the school year into mid-to-late June.

"The snow days would be the only thing that I would be concerned about, because then you'd really be pushing into the next week, which ends on the 25th," Saba-Maguire said.