The Beaufort County Board of Education has approved calendars for the 2015-16 and 2016-17 school years.

For the 2015-16 school year, teachers will report to schools on August 10, 2015, with the first day for students on August 17. The last day for students will be May 27, 2016.

High school students will change from an A/B schedule to a hybrid 4x4 schedule that will permit the first semester to end before winter break.  With the hybrid 4x4 schedule, students take four 90-minute semester-long classes and finish classes in a single semester as opposed to having them last the entire year. For some select classes, such as Advanced Placement, the hybrid schedule can accommodate three 58-minute year-long classes.

Benefits of the approved calendar include ending the school year shortly after state accountability testing; allowing for early graduation at the end of first semester; increasing the number of instructional days in November and during the spring semester; and allowing time during the summer for state-mandated reading intervention camps.

The approved 2015-16 calendar also includes various staff development days.  State-mandated days for possible weather make-up are Jan. 3, Feb. 15, and May 31. Holidays with schools closed are Sept. 7 (Labor Day), Nov. 25-27 (Thanksgiving), Dec. 21-Jan. 6 (winter break), Jan. 18 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day) and March 25 (Good Friday).

On the approved 2016-17 calendar, the first school day will be August 15, 2016, and the last school day will be May 26, 2017.

Both calendars will be posted on the school district’s website: www.beaufort.k12.sc.us.