Providing an excellent education to all students and meeting individual student needs requires appropriate planning time for teachers. This means teachers need a dedicated block of time to prepare lessons, participate in professional development and training, and collaborate with peers.

With that in mind, FCPS has developed a divisionwide plan for seven three-hour early release days (Mondays) for elementary students in the 2024-25 school year. 

Reasons for Early Release Mondays

Demands on teacher time have increased dramatically since the pandemic. With the adoption of new textbooks, differentiated support plans for students, required professional development for the new Virginia Literacy Act, new reading and math SOLs from the state, and other initiatives—teachers have a lot to do in addition to actually teaching! These demands require blocks of uninterrupted, in person, and collaborative time to plan. 

A well-supported and continuously improving teaching staff will lead to better educational outcomes for students.

Early release Mondays will also reduce our need for substitute teachers, which are very difficult to find.

Start Date

Early release Mondays will start in mid-September of this year. Each elementary school will have a total of seven early release days throughout the school year, which is about one per month.

How It Works

We encourage all parents/caregivers to have their student take their normal route home (bus, walk, kiss and ride) on early dismissal days. While these are designated as early release days — where necessary — we will ensure that every student has supervised enrichment activities at the school and returns home at the regular time if that is what works best for your family. Licensed educators from central office will support schools as well. High-impact tutoring will be available for identified students.

Instructional Hours

The three-hour early release will not impact the state-mandated number of instructional hours, but it will reduce the amount of built in snow days. 

Steering Committee

A steering committee of school leaders, teachers, and families is being created to make sure this work is both supported and implemented consistently across all of our elementary schools. We believe strongly in the power of in-person, collaborative professional development. If you are interested in being a part of the steering committee, please complete this form for consideration by Friday, June 28. 

Community Conversations

Superintendent Reid will host two Community Conversations about early release Mondays at Gatehouse Administration Center on:

• Tuesday, June 25, 5:30-6:30 p.m. 
• Wednesday, June 26, 5:30-6:30 p.m.

Click on one of the dates above to register. Language interpretation and childcare will be available as needed.

Dates for Early Release

Each elementary school will have seven early release days, which works out to roughly one per month. Those days will depend upon the pyramid under which a school falls. Check FCPS' Region and Pyramid Map for a breakdown. 

Early release Mondays for elementary schools in the the following pyramids are planned for the dates below: Edison, Hayfield, Lewis, Mount Vernon, South County, West Potomac, Annandale, Falls Church, Justice, Lake Braddock, West Springfield, and Woodson.

• September 16
• October 21
• November 18
• February 10
• March 10
• April 21
• May 12

Early release Mondays for elementary schools in the the following pyramids are planned for the dates below: Herndon, Langley, Madison, Marshall, McLean, South Lakes, Centreville, Chantilly, Fairfax, Oakton, Robinson, and Westfield.

• September 23
• October 28
• November 25
• February 24
• March 17
• April 28
• May 19

Questions?

If you have questions about early release Mondays, please email [email protected].