EDWARDSVILLE - After some discussion at their regular Board of Education meeting on Dec. 16, 2024, the Edwardsville Community Unit School District #7 Board approved the 2025–2026 School Calendar.
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This calendar has prompted discussion at recent meetings as the Board approved construction timelines at Lincoln Middle School, Edwardsville High School and several elementary schools. During summer 2025, eight schools within the district will be under construction, which means the start date for the 2025–2026 school year will be later than usual.
“As part of that, we’ve had a lot of conversations in the last year and a half about the 25–26 calendar, because we knew it would be a little bit different, and what that difference looked like, we weren’t sure,” said Superintendent Dr. Patrick Shelton.
Because of the summer construction, the 2025–2026 school year will start one week later than usual, on Aug. 20, 2025. Shelton explained that this later start date and the built-in breaks originally pushed the school year until May 29, 2026, four days after Memorial Day, assuming no snow days were taken.
To assess the district’s feelings about this, parents and teachers were encouraged to complete a survey where they were asked when they would like the school year to end. They were also presented with several days that are typically not school days and asked which of these days they would be willing to attend school, if necessary.
Most of the respondents said they wanted the school year to end sometime between May 22 and 29, 2026. When asked which days they would like to attend school, most respondents agreed to shorter Thanksgiving and spring breaks in exchange for an earlier dismissal in May.
According to the 2025–2026 School Calendar, Thanksgiving break will run from Nov. 26–30, 2025. Winter break will run from Dec. 22, 2025, to Jan. 5, 2026. The end of first semester will be on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026.
Shelton noted that several students voiced concerns about the later date for the end of the first semester. This date means students will take final exams at the beginning of January.
However, he pointed out that many teachers are assigning final projects or presentations in place of final exams. There are also nine days of teaching in between winter break and the end of the first semester, so students still get instruction time before their final exams.
“Moving finals to after winter break was a big deal to them on the front end,” Shelton said. “We’ve had a lot of conversations the past three years about final exams, and the general trend every year is that more and more teachers are moving away from a true final exam…We’re seeing a lot more of that, which makes that Jan. 16 less of a sting…They don’t walk back in the door and take a final the next day.”
Shelton said the “general consensus” was to shorten the spring break, so school will be in session on Monday and Tuesday, March 30–31, 2026, followed by the spring break from April 1–6, 2026. This puts the final day of the 2025–2026 school year on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, assuming no snow days are taken.
Board member Bob Paty said he was “not a big fan” of the shortened spring break, adding that it’s a “hard sell in [his] house” as his wife is a teacher and his eldest is in college and both receive a full week of spring break.
Shelton noted that this is the only year where there will be a shortened spring break due to the construction in the summer of 2025. He said there is a draft of the 2026–2027 calendar available, and they are deciding when the district will have a shorter summer “to get back in that cycle of starting earlier.”
Board member Terri Dalla Riva said that there has been “a lot of thought and work to try to get to the best calendar we can.” President Jill Bertels echoed her and added that it was a “collaborative effort.”
Paty voted against the approval of the 2025–2026 School Calendar, with Lynne Sanderson, Kristen Pfund, Jennifer Brumback, Dalla Riva and Bertels voting yes. Scott Ahart was absent. More information about the 2025–2026 School Calendar will be provided to District #7 families soon.