Mark your calendars! Palm Beach County schools calendar released for 2024-25 school year

Mark your calendars! Important dates for the 2024-25 school year have been approved by the Palm Beach County School Board.

The next school year will begin on Monday, Aug. 12 and end on Friday, May 30.

Graduations for seniors will begin on May 9 and run through May 23. Most ceremonies will be held at the South Florida Fairgrounds.

New to the calendar next year is a paid day off for 12-month employees on June 19 for Juneteenth, a federal holiday that honors the emancipation of 250,000 enslaved people.

Here's what to know about when school starts and when the big holiday breaks are next school year:

When is the first day of school 2024 for Palm Beach County?

The first day of school is Monday. Aug. 12.

Teachers will have pre-school work days starting Aug. 5. No students will be on campus during those work days.

When is fall break 2024 for Palm Beach County schools?

Students will get two weekdays off from school in October.

They'll be off Thursday, Oct. 3. Rosh Hashanah begins at sunset on Oct. 2 and ends at nightfall on Oct. 4.

Students will also get a day off on Monday, Oct. 14. That day is observed as Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples Day.

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When is Thanksgiving break for Palm Beach County schools in 2024?

Students in Palm Beach County will be off school starting Monday, Nov. 25 for Thanksgiving, which falls on Thursday, Nov. 28.

Schools will be closed the entire week.

They'll go back to school on Monday, Dec. 2 after Thanksgiving.

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When are schools closed for winter break for 2024 holidays?

Students will be out of school from Monday, Dec. 23 through Monday, Jan. 6, 2025.

They'll return to school on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025.

When is spring break in Palm Beach County 2025?

Students will not have school from Monday, March 25 through Monday, March 31.

It's no joke: Students will go back to school after spring break on April 1.

When is the last day of school in Palm Beach County 2025?

Palm Beach County students will end the school year on Friday, May 30.

It will be a four-day week, as Memorial Day 2025 will be observed on Monday of that week, May 26.

To see the entire school calendar, visit the Palm Beach County School District's website.

School district employees will get a paid day off for Juneteenth

School district employees who work year-round will get an additional paid day off next year for Juneteenth.

The holiday, also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day or Black Independence Day, honors the emancipation of 250,000 enslaved people in Texas. At the time, President Abraham Lincoln had already signed the Emancipation Proclamation and freed slaves in other Confederate territories more than two years earlier, but his order held weight only in areas with military enforcement.

On June 5, 1865, a brigade of the 25th Army Corps — an all-Black unit of the Union Army — captured Galveston, Texas. More than 1,000 African-descendant soldiers freed slaves and chased the opposition into Mexico, according to the Library of Congress.

Soon afterward, on June 19, 1865, Gen. Gordon Granger marched thousands of his own Union soldiers into Galveston to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation throughout the state — a day now known as Juneteenth. It was a pivotal moment, though slavery still existed in a handful of states before the 13th Amendment was ratified about half a year later.

On June 17, 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, recognizing Juneteenth as the 11th federal holiday. Other public employees such as Palm Beach County government workers, water utilities and library employees get a paid day off for the holiday.

Katherine Kokal is a journalist covering education at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at kkokal@pbpost.com. Help support our work, subscribe today!

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: When will school start 2024? See Palm Beach County schools calendar