2024-25 Religious and Cultural Observances
Certain events cannot be scheduled on any of the days
Religious and cultural observance days are designed to allow students the opportunity to miss school for those observances not already designated as school holidays. Verified student absences on these days may not be designated an unexcused absence by a principal. Students will not be penalized for missing these days.
While school is in session on religious and cultural observance days, several activities are not held, such as tests, quizzes, field trips, or FCPS-scheduled athletic events.
Religious and cultural observance days will depend on the calendar adopted each year because some of the dates vary annually (and may fall on school holidays or weekends in some years).
As some religious and cultural observances start the evening before, these have been designated as “evening only” in the calendar to help staff avoid these dates when scheduling key events.
2024-25 Religious and Cultural Observances
Two Full-Day Religious and Cultural Observance Days
Observances that are not on weekends, student holidays, or during school breaks for the 2024-25 school year are:
- 01/06/25 - Orthodox Epiphany
- 01/07/25 - Orthodox Christmas
School Schedules
Verified student absences on these days may not be designated an unexcused absence by a principal. Students will not be penalized for missing these days.
In an effort to respect the diverse religious and cultural heritages of our students, teachers shall create lessons or activities on designated observance days that:
No graded assignments or activities should be due on the day following a religious and cultural observance day unless it has been announced at least one week prior to the due date.
- Reinforce previously acquired material or;
- Introduce new material provided that the lesson content is made available to students using the learning management system and the teacher follows up directly with students who miss the lesson for a religious or cultural observance.
- Engage students in meaningful learning
- Are not the sole opportunity to engage in lessons or activities presented on that day.
When creating school schedules, teachers and school staff shall not schedule the following activities on days specified as religious and cultural observances;
- Tests, quizzes, or other assessments
- Field trips, school pictures, guest speakers, or assemblies
- Sporting events, school-sponsored special events and activities (for example, prom, back-to-school nights)
- Auditions or tryouts that cannot be rescheduled
- Safety drills which occur 1-2 times per year including tornado, earthquake and lockdown
Divisionwide Schedules
When creating division-wide schedules, departments and offices shall not schedule the following activities on days specified as religious and cultural observances:
a. Division-wide special events (for example, graduation, first day of school)
b. Centralized tests or other assessments
c. Recruiting and hiring events
d. Professional development activities or other conferences
e. Town halls or other community events
Four Evening-Only Religious and Cultural Observance Days
Observances that start after sunset for the 2024-25 school year are:
- 10/2/24 - Rosh Hashanah begins
- 10/11/24 - Yom Kippur begins
- 02/28/25 - Ramadan begins
- 06/06/25 - Eid-al-Adha begins
School and Division-wide Schedules
When the religious and cultural observance begins at sundown, the following activities and events shall not occur after school hours:
- School-sponsored special events and activities (for example, prom, back-to-school nights)
- Auditions or tryouts that cannot be rescheduled
- Division-wide special events (for example, graduation, first day of school)
- Recruiting and hiring events
- Professional development activities or other conferences
- Town halls or other community events
State, national, and international competitions, exams, or sporting events (for example, SAT, SOL, AP/IB, VHSL) are not bound by this regulation. FCPS will make every effort possible to communicate dates that are not bound by this regulation.
2024-25 Religious and Cultural Observances
Two Full-Day Religious and Cultural Observance Days
Observances that are not on weekends, student holidays, or during school breaks for the 2024-25 school year are:
- 01/06/25 - Three Kings Day/Epiphany
- 01/07/25 - Orthodox Christmas
Four Evening-Only Religious and Cultural Observance Days
Observances that start after sunset for the 2024-25 school year are:
- 10/02/24 - Rosh Hashanah begins.
- 10/11/24 - Yom Kippur begins.
- 02/28/25 - Ramadan begins.
- 06/06/25 - Eid-al-Adha begins.
Entire List of Religious and Cultural Observance Days
Below is the entire list of Religious and Cultural Observance days acknowledged by FCPS. The full-day and evening-only observance days change each year because the day of the week for the religious or cultural days changes each year. If the religious or cultural day falls on a day when school is not in session, the day is not observed because the students are not attending school.
The following observances are acknowledged on the approved 2024-25 school year calendar (PDF).
- All Saints Day/Día de los Muertos
- Ash Wednesday
- Bodhi Day
- Chanukah
- Christmas
- Diwali
- Easter
- Eid al-Adha
- Eid al-Fitr
- Good Friday
- Lunar New Year
- Nowruz
- Orthodox Christmas
- Orthodox Easter
- Orthodox Epiphany
- Orthodox Good Friday
- Passover (first and second evenings)
- Ramadan (first full day)
- Rosh Hashanah
- Theravada New Year
- Three Kings Day/Epiphany
- Yom Kippur
Employees
To provide support to staff, Regulation 4817 regarding religious accommodations was revised to strengthen employee rights by requiring program managers to approve personal or annual leave requests on religious and cultural observance days. Previously, those requests could be denied. Employees have three options to observe a religious and cultural observance day:
- Annual or personal leave may be used.
- Up to 16 hours of religious leave can be made up annually to preserve leave.
- Leave without pay may also be used.
The division has required that no unique staff events occur on designated days to ensure that no staff member is disadvantaged by taking leave.
All staff were required to complete professional development that outlined the expectations for religious and cultural observance days, including the impacts to instruction and the changes to employee rights. Toolkits for teachers, managers, and employees were also developed.
Background
Religious and cultural observance days reflect the diversity of our community and were originally determined based on their operational impact using student and staff absentee data.
Concerns?
Parents and students who are not satisfied with their school’s response to religious and cultural observances should speak to the school principal. Further appeals may be made to the region assistant superintendent.
Video - Understanding the FCPS School Calendar
In this informative video, you’ll get a clear understanding of how to navigate the FCPS calendar, including religious and cultural observances days and evening-only observance days that start after sunset.
