A teacher explains the day’s schedule to her students in her classroom at Naval Air Station Rota, Spain, May 22, 2023. (Nathan Carpenter/U.S. Navy)
Significant changes are coming to the academic calendar for students in Defense Department schools overseas, as all four-day weekends are gone and the third quarter is to start earlier.
The revisions were announced last week, when the Department of Defense Education Activity released its 2026-27 academic calendar for schools in the Europe and Pacific regions.
Four school holidays were removed for the first semester, which concludes prior to winter break. Also, most schools in Europe and the Pacific will start summer break on June 3, 2027, about a week earlier than they do this year.
The four previously scheduled school holidays that were removed are on the Fridays before the federal holidays of Columbus Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Washington’s Birthday and Memorial Day.
Students will have three-day weekends at those times rather than four-day weekends. Many military families use long weekends to travel, with local commands typically giving service members a “family day” or “training holiday” on some or all of those Fridays, subject to mission requirements.
The two school holidays before and after Thanksgiving remain unchanged, DODEA spokeswoman Jessica Tackaberry said in a statement Monday.
The number of instructional and teacher work days remains the same, at 175 and 190, respectively, according to a comparison of the calendars.
There are four “professional learning days” and four teacher-only work days, similar to the current school year calendar. Students don’t go to school on those days.
DODEA schools in Europe that follow separate calendars will continue to adhere to those schedules “due to location and other factors,” Tackaberry said, without naming which ones.
This year, Garmisch-Partenkirchen in southern Germany, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Belgium and AFNORTH Middle High School in Brunssum, Netherlands, are among those with separate calendars, according to the DODEA website.
The first and last days of school will be standard across Europe, with classes starting Aug. 17 and ending June 2, 2027, Tackaberry said. This year, classes end June 9.
Pacific schools will start and end on the same dates as Europe schools, with those in South Korea being an exception. Schools there will begin on Aug. 12 and end on May 28, 2027.
“The earlier start date helps align with annual military activities and gives parents the opportunity to be present and engaged as their children begin the school year,” Tackaberry said.
DODEA operates 161 schools for more than 60,000 children of service members and civilian employees stationed overseas and in some stateside locations.
At DODEA schools in the United States, the district superintendent establishes the academic calendar, which typically aligns with the local education community, according to DODEA. Those school calendars are not yet published on DODEA’s website.
