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Charlottesville students and teachers will have two more days off of school starting next year.
The city school division has announced the addition of two "mental wellness days" to the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 academic calendars, increasing the number of vacation days for the school division from 29 to 31 (five of which are teacher workdays).
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The Charlottesville School Board requested the calendar changes at its Dec. 5 meeting. Official said the days off would be especially beneficial to teachers, giving them a short break once in the spring and once in the winter.
"Their point was that even on no-school days like teacher workdays or professional development days, staff are still working," Charlottesville City Schools spokeswoman Beth Cheuk told The Daily Progress via email. "The Board knows that working in schools is demanding work, so they wanted to create a day each semester for the staff to recharge."
The decision is rooted in two school division priorities included in its five-year strategic plan: "provide a culture of safety, wellness and belonging" and "support our staff."
"In hearing from our staff, and as a former teacher myself, I know that it can be very difficult to find a moment's rest during the academic year," said Charlottesville Superintendent Royal Gurley in a statement. "Teachers are supporting student success not just during the school day but after-hours as well. These paid days off are one way our division can help teachers press 'pause.'"
The 2025-2026 mental wellness days are scheduled for Sept. 19 and March. The following school year, the breaks are scheduled for Sept. 18 and March 5. All four dates are Fridays, creating a built-in three-day weekend for students, teachers and administrators.
Studies looking into the effectiveness of additional vacation days, and even four-day school weeks, have had mixed results for students. Some show gains in reading and math skills, while others found the difference was negligible.
Multiple studies, however, show giving students more time to relax and participate in extracurricular activities, whether academic, athletic or otherwise, improves overall attendance levels. A study published in the Educational Research and Policy Analysis Journal in June 2022 found that the four-day school week, while having "no detectable effect" on students' American College Testing, or ACT, scores, significantly decreased the amount of fighting and bullying taking place across hundreds of schools.
Charlottesville High School has struggled in recent years with attendance and violence. Last year, multiple student brawls prompted teachers to call out of work, administrators to cancel classes and the superintendent to implement a "hard reset" to cool tensions at the school. Much of the trouble has been blamed on the years of learning and socialization lost during the COVID pandemic when schools nationwide were shut down.
"These paid days off are set aside explicitly to give our hardworking staff a chance to recharge," School Board Chair Lisa Larson-Torres said in a statement announcing the new mental wellness days. "Charlottesville City Schools recognizes that staff well-being ultimately supports student learning."