KEY DATES FOR 2008-2009 SCHOOL CALENDAR PLANS
Below are selections from "Resources for Planning the School Calendar," which is published by the Educational Research Service, 2000 Clarendon Blvd, Arlington, VA 22201, and is available on the LCPS Website.
DATE 2008
OBSERVANCE/HOLIDAY
DATE 2009
OBSERVANCE/HOLIDAY
Sept 1-30 .........................Library Card Sign-Up Month Sept 1 ..........................................................Labor Day ŧ Sept 2 ............ Ramadan (Begin Islamic Holy Month)* Sept 7 ............................................ Grandparents' Day Sept 8 ..................................International Literacy Day Sept 15-Oct 15...................... Hispanic Heritage Month Sept 17-23/17 ...................... Constitution Week & Day Sept 21 .............................. International Day of Peace Sept 22 .........................................First Day of Autumn Sept 28 ...........................National Good Neighbor Day Sept 30 – Oct 1.. Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year)* Oct 1-31 .................................Crime Prevention Month Oct 2 .................................. Id al-Fitr (Ramadan ends) ŧ Oct 2 ................................ Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday Oct 5-11 .....................................Fire Prevention Week Oct 9 ......................................Benjamin Banneker Day Oct 9 ..........................Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) Oct 13-17.................... National School Lunch Week Oct 13 .......................Columbus Day/Discoverers’ Day Oct 19-25 ................. National Character Counts Week Oct 20-24............ National School Bus Safety Week Oct 24 ........................................... United Nations Day Oct 25 ...................................... Make a Difference Day Oct 31 ..........................................................Halloween Nov 1-30 ................... American Indian Heritage Month Nov 1 .................................................... All Saints’ Day Nov 2 ..................................... Standard Time Begins Nov 4 ....................................................... Election Day Nov 10-16 ............................ Youth Appreciation Week Nov 11 ....................... Veterans Day (Armistice Day) Nov 16-22....................... American Education Week Nov 19 .............. Education Support Professionals Day Nov 19 ......................Gettysburg Address Anniversary Nov 23-29 ................................. National Family Week Nov 27 ...........................................Thanksgiving Day Nov 30 ...........................................First Day of Advent Dec 7 ................................................Pearl Harbor Day Dec 9 .......................................................Id al-Adha * ŧ Dec 10 ........................................... Human Rights Day Dec 15 .............................................. Bill of Rights Day Dec 16 ..........................Boston Tea Party Anniversary Dec 17 .............. Anniversary of Wright Brothers' Flight Dec 21 ............................................First Day of Winter Dec 22-29 .....................Hanukkah (Festival of Lights)* Dec 25 ..................................................Christmas Day Dec 26-Jan 1 ................................................ Kwanzaa Dec 29 ........................ Muharram (Islamic New Year)*
Mar 1-31 .......................... American Red Cross Month Mar 1-31 ...................... Irish American Heritage Month Mar 1-31...................... Music in Our Schools Month Mar 1-31 ............................. National Nutrition Month® Mar 1-31 ................................ Women’s History Month Mar 1-31............................... Youth Art Month (YAM) Mar 2...........................NEA’s Read Across America Mar 2-8................ National Foreign Language Week Mar 2-6.................National School Breakfast Week Mar 3 ............. Adoption of U.S. Star Spangled Banner Mar 8 ................................ International Women's Day Mar 8 ............................Daylight Savings Time Begins Mar 11 .....................................Johnny Appleseed Day Mar 14 ..................................Albert Einstein's Birthday Mar 17 ............................................... St. Patrick's Day Mar 19 ........................ Absolutely Incredible Kid Day® Mar 20 ............................................First Day of Spring Mar 21 .................. Bahá’í New Year’s Day (Naw-Rúz) Mar 23 ............ Anniversary of Patrick Henry's Speech Mar 31 ........... Mawlid al-Nabi (Muhammad’s Birthday) Apr 1-30 ...................... Keep America Beautiful Month Apr 1-30 ....... Mathematics Education Month (MEM) Apr 1....................................................April Fools’ day Apr 2....................... International Children's Book Day Apr 5....................................................... Palm Sunday Apr 7................................................ World Health Day Apr 9-10 ...................................Passover (First Days)* Apr 10.......................................................Good Friday Apr 12-18 ...............................National Library Week Apr 12................................................................ Easter Apr 12.........................First Man in Space Anniversary Apr 13-19 ......................Young People’s Poetry Week Apr 13............................. Thomas Jefferson's Birthday Apr 15-16 ......................Passover (Concluding Days)* Apr 18........................Paul Revere’s Ride Anniversary Apr 19-25/22..Administrative Professionals Wk. & Day Apr 19-25 ............. National Student Leadership Week Apr 19-25 .................Public School Volunteer Week Apr 20...................................................... Patriot’s Day Apr 22.................................................. Earth Day USA Apr 23..Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day™ Apr 23........................ William Shakespeare's Birthday Apr 24............................................ National Arbor Day May 1-31 ....... Asian Pacific American Heritage Month May 1-31 ....National Physical Fitness & Sports Month May 1 ............................................................ Law Day May 3-9 ........................ Teacher Appreciation Week May 3-10 ....................................National Music Week May 4 ................................... Horace Mann’s Birthday May 5 .................................................. Cinco de Mayo May 5 ...................................... National Teacher Day May 6 .............................National School Nurse Day May 8 .............................................................. VE Day May 10 ................................................... Mother's Day May 16 .......................................... Armed Forces Day May 17-23 ........... National Educational Bosses' Week May 17 ............. Anniversary of School Desegregation May 20-21 ......................Lindbergh Flight Anniversary May 25 ................................................. Memorial Day May 31 ................................... World No Tobacco Day June 14 ......................................................... Flag Day June 15 ...Ben Franklin’s Kite Experiment Anniversary June 15 ........................................... Magna Carta Day June 18 ........ First U.S. Woman in Space Anniversary June 21 ................................................... Father's Day June 21 ...................................... First Day of Summer June 27 ................................... Helen Keller’s Birthday
ŧ Some of these dates are not fixed to a calendar but based on the actual sighting of the moon and therefore there may be some variance by a day. LCPS/PIO/July 2008
2009
Jan 1............. Emancipation Proclamation Anniversary Jan 1...................................................New Year's Day Jan 19 Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday Observed Feb 1-28 ....................................Black History Month Feb 2 .................................................. Groundhog Day Feb 12 ..............................Abraham Lincoln's Birthday Feb 14 ........................................... St. Valentine's Day Feb 15 ............................ Susan B. Anthony's Birthday Feb 16 ...............................................Presidents' Day Feb 17 .............................National PTA Founders Day Feb 20 ................................... Frederick Douglass Day Feb 22 .........................George Washington's Birthday Feb 23 ...................................W.E.B. DuBois' Birthday Feb 24 ........................................................Mardi Gras Feb 25- Apr 11...................................................... Lent
* All Jewish and Islamic holidays begin at sundown the day before they are listed here.
The 2008-09 Key Dates Calendar is available on the LCPS website: www.loudoun.k12.va.us