Potomac families planning around the 2027 school calendar now have a firm backstop: even if winter storms eat into class time, the year will end no later than Thursday, June 17, 2027.

Montgomery County Public Schools built six makeup days directly into the 2026-2027 calendar, a structural change approved by the Board of Education on April 30 after last winter's scheduling chaos forced families at Churchill, Wootton and Hoover into repeated last-minute adjustments.

The fix works like this: if no weather closures occur, the last day of school remains Friday, June 11, 2027, an early-release day. If closures do happen, the district draws from a bank of six designated makeup days rather than tacking time onto the end of the year without warning. Under new state guidelines, MCPS must wrap up by June 19 regardless, according to Patch. The Maryland State Department of Education's official calendar lists MCPS's last day as June 16.

The six makeup days, in order:

  • Thursday, April 22, 2027 (Passover): first inclement-weather makeup day, if needed
  • Monday, May 17, 2027 (Eid al-Adha): second makeup day, if needed
  • Sunday, June 14 through Thursday, June 17, 2027: four consecutive makeup days, if needed

Each date doubles as a religious-holiday non-instruction day. Students attend only if a snow day earlier in the year triggers the makeup.

The change responds directly to the 2025-2026 school year, when roughly five weather-related closures forced MCPS into rounds of improvised rescheduling. One adjustment scheduled classes on Eid al-Fitr, drawing swift backlash from Muslim families before the district reversed course.

"I think that school systems need to have contingency plans in place so that if the schedule needs to be changed, we are already aware of what will happen," Winston Churchill High School junior Kari Oskvig told The Churchill Observer in June. "Making unexpected changes is not always appreciated as us students also have plans and a life outside of school."

The board first approved the 2026-2027 calendar at its Dec. 11, 2025, meeting, then revised it after community pushback and voted on the final version April 30.

Winter and spring breaks remain unchanged. The first day of school for all students is Tuesday, Aug. 25. Monday, Aug. 24, is Transition Day for incoming kindergartners, first-graders, sixth-graders, ninth-graders and new MCPS students.

What's next: MCPS hosts a Back-to-School Fair serving Churchill, Rockville, Richard Montgomery and Wootton cluster families on Saturday, Aug. 22, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Richard Montgomery High School, 250 Richard Montgomery Drive, Rockville. Staff from transportation, technology, special education and other offices will be on hand for registration help, tech support and schedule questions.