Back to school: Here's when students head back to the classroom by county and district

Zach Roth, Springfield State Journal- Register
Updated ·4 min read

The start of the 2023-24 school year across central Illinois is finally here.

While there's still plenty of the summer to squeeze out – the Illinois State Fair is ongoing, Labor Day is under three weeks away and temperatures next week will feel like the dog days – the beginning of a new school year brings the first signs of fall.

Here's a list of when Springfield-area school districts resume classes.

Sangamon County

School districts that have already started classes: Ball-Chatham (Aug. 16); New Berlin (Aug. 15); Springfield Ball Charter (Aug. 15); Springfield Graham and Southern View (July 19); Springfield Our Savior's Lutheran (Aug. 16); Pawnee (Aug. 16); Riverton (Aug. 8); Rochester (Aug. 16); St. Agnes School (Aug. 16); Tri-City (Aug. 16); Williamsville (Aug. 15)

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Springfield Public School District 186: Start date for all schools not on a balanced calendar is Aug. 21.

Auburn School District 10: Students begin classes Aug. 17 and will be dismissed at 2 p.m. on the first day.

Pleasant Plains Community United School District 8: The first day is Aug. 21, under regular hours.

Sacred Heart-Griffin: First day of classes is Aug. 17.

Blessed Sacrament: First day of classes is Aug. 17; early dismissal for each of the first two days.

Christ the King: First day of classes is Aug. 21; 1:45 p.m. early dismissal for the first week.

Little Flower: First day of classes is Aug. 17; 1:30 p.m. early dismissal for first day.

St. Aloysius: First day of classes is Aug. 21; 11:30 a.m. dismissal for first day, 1:30 p.m. dismissal for second day.

St. Patrick's: First day of classes is Aug. 21.

Calvary Academy: First day of classes is Aug. 21.

Springfield Christian School: First day of classes is Aug. 21; half-day for students on first day.

Springfield Lutheran High School: First day of classes is Aug. 17: half-day for students on first day.

Concordia Lutheran: First day of classes is Aug. 23.

Trinity Lutheran: First day of classes is Aug. 21; 11:15 a.m. dismissal for first day; early dismissal for second day.

Menard County

School districts that have already started classes: Greenview (Aug. 15)

Athens CUSD 213: Classes begin Aug. 21, with early dismissal at 2:15 p.m.

Petersburg PORTA CUSD 202: Classes start Aug. 17, with 2 p.m. dismissal for the first two days of school.

Christian County

School districts that have already started classes: Edinburg (Aug. 15); Morrisonville (Aug. 15); Pana (Aug. 16); Pana Sacred Heart (Aug. 16); Taylorville (Aug. 16); Taylorville St. Mary's (Aug. 16)

South Fork School District 17: Aug. 22 is the first day of classes; 2:06 p.m. early dismissal for the first day.

Taylorville VisionWay Christian School: Aug. 18 is the first day of classes.

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Montgomery County

School districts that have already started classes: Hillsboro (Aug. 16); Litchfield (Aug. 11); Litchfield Zion Lutheran (Aug. 11); Nokomis (Aug. 16); Nokomis St. Louis (Aug. 15); Panhandle (Aug. 16)

All districts in Montgomery County have begun classes.

Macoupin County

School districts that have already begun classes: Brighton Southwestern (Aug. 16); Bunker Hill (Aug. 16); Carlinville (Aug. 16); Gillespie (Aug. 16); Mt. Olive (Aug. 16); North Mac (Aug. 16); Staunton (Aug. 16); Staunton Zion Lutheran (Aug. 16)

Palmyra Northwestern CUSD 2: Classes start Aug. 17; 1:45 p.m. early dismissal is in place for the first seven days of school.

Logan County

School districts that have already begun classes: Chester-East Lincoln (Aug. 16); Hartsburg-Emden (Aug. 16); Lincoln Community High School (Aug. 16); Lincoln elementary schools (Aug. 16); Lincoln Carroll Catholic (Aug. 16); Lincoln Zion Lutheran (Aug. 14); Mt. Pulaski (Aug. 16); New Holland-Middletown (Aug. 16); West Lincoln-Broadwell (Aug. 16)

Mt. Pulaski Zion Lutheran School: First day of classes is Aug. 23.

Cass County

Ashland A-C Central CUSD 262: Classes start Aug. 17; early dismissal for the first two days of school at 1:45 p.m. for elementary students and 2:15 p.m. for middle and high schoolers.

Beardstown CUSD 15: First day of classes is Aug. 18.

Virginia CUSD 64: First day of classes is Aug. 17.

Morgan County

School districts that have already begun classes: Franklin (Aug. 16); Jacksonville (Aug. 16); Waverly (Aug. 16)

Meredosia-Chambersburg CUSD 11: First day of classes is Aug. 17.

Concord Triopia CUSD 27: First day is Aug. 17; 2:20 p.m. early dismissal for the first two days of classes.

Jacksonville Our Savior's Catholic: First day is Aug. 17; 2 p.m. early dismissal for the first two days of classes.

Jacksonville Routt Catholic High School: First day is Aug. 17; 2 p.m. early dismissal for first two days of classes.

Jacksonville Westfair Christian Academy: First day of classes is Aug. 28.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Here's when school starts in districts throughout the Springfield area