Half days are gone from Philly’s school calendar ‘forevermore’
“When we have half days in the school district, it significantly impacts our student attendance,” Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said.
Half days are disappearing in the Philadelphia School District.
Beginning in the 2026-27 school year, the district won’t have a single early dismissal — for teacher planning, report card conferences, or any other purpose.
Student attendance tumbles whenever Philadelphia has a half day, and parents scramble to plan for childcare when they happen, Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said.
“We need to eliminate and sunset half days from our school calendars now and forevermore,” Watlington said at a school board meeting Thursday.
At the superintendent’s request, the board amended the 2026-27 calendar, changing eight previously scheduled half days to zero.
Some days previously scheduled for professional development will now be full days off for students, and report card conferences — previously held over two half days — will now be scheduled on a single day off for students.
“When we have half days in the school district, it significantly impacts our student attendance,” Watlington told the board. “We now have clear data over 3½ years that when we have half days for professional development and the like, it lowers our overall student attendance.“
Watlington has emphasized student attendance as a key driver of academic improvement, and overall, Philadelphia’s student and teacher attendance has risen during his tenure, which began in 2022.
But half days were responsible for the largest single year-over-year drop in attendance in recent years. In December 2025, 54% of district students attended school 90% of the time or more, down from 66% over the same time period in 2024.
In January 2026, regular student attendance was 51%, down from 53% in January 2025, a dip Watlington said was “largely attributed to disruptions in the calendar.”
Controlling for half days, regular student attendance would have been 70% last month — proof, Watlington said, that half days need to disappear.
“This is very important,” the superintendent said, “because we know if we can get student regular attendance up, kids just learn more when they’re in school more.”
Half days planned for March, April, and May this school year will remain on the calendar, but the half day planned for students’ last day of the school year, June 11, is now a full day.