Calendar

Lemont High School District 210’s annual calendar must include 185 days. This includes 176 days of student attendance, four Teacher Institute Days, and five emergency days. (Note: Because less than 50 percent of students are present in the building, New Student Day does not count as a student attendance day for school calendar purposes.)

The following factors are considered when developing the school calendar:

• Balance of days between Semester 1 and Semester 2
• Annual holidays
• Timing of four Teacher Institute Days (two fall, two spring)
• Timing of four School Improvement Days (two fall, two spring)
• Timing of student testing days (one fall, one spring)
• Semester 1 must end before Winter Break
• Semester 2 must end before Memorial Day
• Maximizing student attendance

Since the 2023-24 school year, there has been no student attendance during Thanksgiving Week.
 

Lemont High School ends its first semester before Winter Break so that students do not have to concern themselves with educational activities during their break.

Lemont High School is not in attendance, and does not conduct any instructional activities, on Labor Day, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday, and Presidents Day. While not mandatory days off of school, Lemont High School typically does not schedule attendance on Good Friday, or on Easter Monday if it falls on the day after Spring Break is scheduled to end.

Beginning with the 2026-27 school year, Lemont High School will be in attendance on Indigenous Peoples/Columbus Day and Veterans Day (when it falls during the week).

It depends. Lemont High School does not conduct any instructional activities on Election Days deemed to be state holidays by the Illinois legislature; these recently have been November General Election Days in even years. On other election days, such as Consolidated Elections in odd years or Primary Elections in even years, Lemont High School continues instructional activities through the use of eLearning Days, as allowed by state law.

The primary reason Lemont High School implemented a full week off for Thanksgiving was because we observed that student attendance rates dipped on the days leading up to Thanksgiving. For this same reason, Lemont High School looks to avoid scheduling attendance weeks of three days or fewer, especially around Winter Break.

Students who are not in attendance are given time to make up any work or exams they miss while absent. When this happens at the end of the semester, it becomes a major inconvenience for students who need to retain their knowledge and satisfy any classroom requirements immediately after Winter Break, as well as for the teachers who must track down students to ensure those requirements are satisfied. Students’ grades are not finalized either until these activities are fulfilled, or until the 10-day period passes to rectify incomplete grades.

In an effort to avoid as many of these situations as possible, Lemont High School avoids scheduling short weeks. This also is a benefit to our families who wish to travel around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

As much as possible, Lemont High School balances the number of days in its first and second semesters. This is specifically important for semester-long classes so that students taking a course in the first semester do not have significantly more or less time in the class than students in the second semester.

Typically, there are 86 days in the first semester and 90 days in the second semester. Each semester includes an All 8 Day (where students attend each of their classes) and one testing day. That leaves 42 Gold Days and 42 Blue Days in the first semester, and 44 Blue Days and 44 Gold Days in the second semester. There are additional days in the second semester due to the amount of class time missed by many students as they take Advanced Placement exams in the spring, and also because seniors are not in attendance for the last week-plus of school due to Graduation being held the week before school ends.

Incorporating a full week off for Thanksgiving Break resulted in school starting earlier. To address this issue, school administrators made the decision to make both Indigenous Peoples/Columbus Day and Veterans Day days of attendance, which will allow for the first semester to start later than it would have otherwise.

The school calendar is expected to provide the following benefits for the foreseeable future:

• The first day of school for all students will be no earlier than August 12 each year.
• New Student Day will be no earlier than August 11 each year.
• The average length of summer preceding the school year will be at least 82 days.
• Students, faculty and staff have a nine-day break for Thanksgiving that includes two weekends.
• Students, faculty and staff have a Winter Break of at least two weeks (typically 17-18 days) that includes three weekends and no attendance within several days of Christmas.
• The first semester ends before Winter Break.
• Students, faculty and staff are finished with the school year before Memorial Day.
• Days of attendance are scheduled in order to maximize student attendance rates, which in turn supports student achievement.