Kathryn MuchnickMilwaukee Journal Sentinel
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With summer well underway in Milwaukee, some students are already dreading next year's early school mornings.
However, that return to class will be a bit later this year for some Milwaukee schools. Here's what to know about the return to the classroom this fall.
All MPS schools will follow one calendar for 2024-25 year
Milwaukee Public Schools is moving from two school calendars to a single, districtwide calendar, beginning with the 2024-25 school year. The Board of School Directors voted in December to adopt the single calendar after a survey of families, staff and students indicated support for the change. This year, MPS's first day of school is Tuesday, Sept. 3.
By moving to a single calendar, the district hopes to save transportation costs, reduce school cancellations due to excessive heat and make it more convenient for families with children in different schools. Bus pickup and dropoff times will not be affected by the change.
While a state law mandates that all public schools begin the school year after Sept. 1, MPS received a waiver in 2016 to move some schools to an early start calendar running from August to May. Since 2017, high schools, International Baccalaureate and year-round schools followed the early start calendar.
Last year, students at 42 MPS schools returned to the classroom Aug. 14. The remaining MPS schools started three weeks later, on Sept. 5.
The new school start date will include IB schools. "The single calendar provides the same number of instructional days and hours per class as the early start calendar, so meeting the recommended hours for any IB course will not be an issue," according to the MPS website.
How long are Wisconsin students in school?
The start times for each school is determined by the respective school board in Wisconsin.
There is no requirement for number of days in school, after a 2013 law eliminated the previous 180-day requirement. Instead, the Department of Public Instruction mandates a certain number of hours of instruction, which vary by grade level.
School start times may also vary by grade level, so long as students are provided the minimum hours of instruction.
Here are the start dates for suburban schools in the Milwaukee metro area
Arrowhead School District
- All students: Sept. 3
School District of Brown Deer
- 5K, sixth grade and ninth grade: Sept. 3
- All other grades: Sept. 4
Cedarburg School District
- All students: Sept. 3
School District of Cudahy
- All students: Sept. 3
Elmbrook School District
- All students: Sept. 3
Fox Point-Bayside School District
- All students: Sept. 9
Franklin Public Schools
- 4K through ninth grades: Sept. 3
- 10th through 12th grades: Sept. 4
Germantown School District
- 5K through 12th grades: Sept. 3
- 4K: Sept. 6
Glendale-River Hills School District
- All students: Sept. 3
Grafton School District
- Ninth grade: Sept. 3 at 7:30 a.m.
- 10th through 12th grades: Sept. 3 at 11:30 a.m.
- Sixth grade: Sept. 3
- Seventh and eighth grades: Sept. 4
- Early childhood through fifth grades: Sept. 4
School District of Greenfield
- All students: Sept. 3
Hamilton School District
- Seventh through 12th grades: Sept. 3
- 5K through sixth grades: Sept. 5
- 4K: Sept. 9
Hartland-Lakeside School District
- All students: Sept. 3
Kettle Moraine School District
- 5K, sixth and ninth grades: Aug. 29, half day
- Sixth through 12th-grade students new to Kettle Moraine School District: Aug. 29, half day
- All other grades: Sept. 3
Lake Country School District
- All students: Sept. 3
Maple Dale-Indian Hill School District
- All students: Sept. 3
Menomonee Falls School District
- 5K through 12th grades: Sept. 3
- 4K: Sept. 5
Merton Community School District
- All students: Sept. 3
Mequon-Thiensville School District
- 5K through 12th grades: Sept. 3
- 4K: Sept. 5
Milwaukee Public Schools
- All students: Sept. 3
Mukwonago Area School District
- 4K through seventh grades: Sept. 3
- Eighth grade: Sept. 4
- Ninth grade: Sept. 3
- 10th through 12th grades: Sept. 4
Muskego-Norway School District
- All students: Sept. 3
School District of New Berlin
- All students: Sept. 3
Nicolet School District
- All students: Sept. 3
Norris School District
- All students: Sept. 3
North Lake School District
- All students: Sept. 3
Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District
- All students: Sept. 3
Oconomowoc Area School District
- 5K through ninth grades: Sept. 3
- 10th through 12th grades: Sept. 4
- 4K: Sept. 4
Pewaukee School District
- Sixth through 12th grades: Sept. 3
- First through fifth grades: Sept. 5
- 5K: Staggered start from Sept. 5 to Sept. 6
- 4K: Sept. 6
Port Washington-Saukville School District
- 5K through fifth grades: Sept. 3
- Ninth grade: Sept. 3
- 4K A-Group: Sept. 3
- 4K B-Group: Sept. 4
- Sixth through eighth grades: Sept. 4
- 10th through 12th grades: Sept. 4
Richmond School District
- All students: Sept. 3
Shorewood School District
- All students: Sept. 3
School District of South Milwaukee
- All students: Sept. 3
St. Francis School District
- All students: Sept. 3
Stone Bank School District
- All students: Sept. 3
Swallow School District
- All students: Sept. 3
School District of Waukesha
- All students: Sept. 3
Wauwatosa School District
- All students: Sept. 3
West Allis-West Milwaukee School District
- All students: Sept. 3
Whitefish Bay School District
- Sixth through ninth grades: Sept. 3
- 10th through 12th grades: Sept. 3 at noon
- Junior Kindergarten through fifth grades: Sept. 6
Whitnall School District
- All students: Sept. 3
Contact Kathryn Muchnick at KMuchnik@gannett.com or 812-568-4468.
