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2021-2022 Ann Arbor Public Schools Calendar

Updated – 2021-2022 Ann Arbor Public Schools Calendar

The full 2021-2022 Ann Arbor Public Schools calendar is now available. We’ve got details that include all the changes made during the 2021-2022 school year. Are you looking for the 2022-2023 calendar? We’ve got some details and our best predictions going forward

Calendar Update Log

The AAPS 2021-2022 Calendar has been updated several times through the year. There were additional days off and virtual days district wide. This section logs the changes that have been made since the calendar was announced.

February 1 – Virtual learning February 2 unless outages (connectivity or power) force a snow day. Announcement to be made for February 3 & 4 as conditions unfold.

January 21 – January 26 will be a remote virtual early release day instead of an in-person early release day.

January 5 – Update on Virtual vs In Person Learning from the January 5 Town Hall. Decisions will be made based on the ability to safely staff the schools. Virtual may be district wide, school wide, grade level, or by classroom.

Breaking News – December 31 – AAPS will return from winter break virtually on January 5-7 and return in person on January 10. This means January 3 & 4th are now days off – and the last two snow days.

Breaking News – December 2- AAPS is closed on Friday, December 3 due to social media threats in the wake of the Oxford School Shooting. The high schools already had police presence on Thursday due to social media threats.

Breaking News on November 17 – AAPS is closed on Monday, November 22 and Tuesday November 23 due to dramatic increase in COVID cases throughout the district and staffing issues. The Major Breaks and exam schedule have been updated.

Breaking news on October 27 – Monday, November 1 is now a day off for students and staff! With recent staff shortages causing certain schools to move to virtual asynchronous learning, it is not a surprise that they have cancelled school on Monday, November 1. With Tuesday a day off, they may have been concerned about staff shortages from vacation days and subs wanting the 4 day weekend.

AAPS is planning for a full return to in person learning for the 2021-2022 school year. They also plan to continue to offer a fully virtual option for all grade levels. They released a partial calendar on June 11, 2021. Early release and state/national assessment dates were announced over the summer. Since school started there have been 3 additional days off. These are counting against the 6 “Act of God” days the state allocates. If we exceed that number, either the state will need to forgive some days or days may need to be added in June..


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Start Date

School is starting before Labor Day this year. The first day of school is Monday, August 30. It was important to shift the first day of school this year because the traditional first day of school (Tuesday after Labor Day) is Rosh Hashanah – one of the Jewish High Holy Days.

End Dates

The last day of school is Friday, June 10. The state allocates 6 “Act of God” days that schools do not need to make up. Only district wide closures count towards these days. The 3 days off in November (1, 22, 23) do count against these days. The City of Ann Arbor has told AAPS that they are short on snow plow/salt truck drivers. It may take longer than normal for roads to be safe to drive on. Let’s hope for a mild winter. If AAPS exceeds 3 more district wide closures for staff shortages or snow days, school will be extended unless the state forgives days. In past years of extreme weather they have forgiven additional snow days. We will see what happens as the year progresses.

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Major Breaks

In February 2017, Washtenaw Intermediate School District announced the dates for Winter and Spring Break through 2022. These dates are confirmed on the 2021-2022 calendar.

The 2021-2022 break schedule is:

  • Winter Break – Saturday, December 18-Sunday, January 2**
    • Break starts after school on Friday, December 17
    • School Resumes on Monday, January 3
    • Check out Winter Break Camps
  • Saturday, March 26-Sunday, April 3
    • Break starts after school on Friday, March 25
    • School Resumes on Monday, April 4
    • Check out our Spring Break Camp Guide

** December 31 update – School will return for break in virtual mode on Wednesday, January 5th through Friday, January 7th and resume in person learning on January 10. Expect more details on Monday as school teams meet. The initial email did not say whether learning would be synchronous or asynchronous.

Excerpt from Superintendent's Email:  	  December 31, 2021  Hello AAPS Staff and Community,  I hope that you have enjoyed a safe and healthy winter break. We are sharing an update as we all prepare to welcome the new year and gear up for a strong return to school in January while also experiencing an extraordinary increase in COVID cases across our Ann Arbor community, higher than at any prior time during this pandemic.  The health and safety of our students and staff continue as our top priority. We also continue our focused work to prioritize in-school learning. We are using all the tools we have implemented and refined during this past year to maintain the priority of critical in-school learning for our students across our AAPS classrooms on as many days as possible, even as we face this current winter surge.  The purpose of this communication is to 1) update on plans for returning to learning and school from this winter break, and 2) advise of additional steps we are taking now in the AAPS and steps we are asking our students, staff and families to take in partnership and support of our shared goal of continued, successful in-school learning despite this winter COVID surge.  January Return from Winter Break  In the AAPS, we will open for virtual remote learning on Wednesday, January 5th through Friday, January 7th.  We anticipate a return to in-school learning for students and staff on Monday, January 10, 2021.  We will host a virtual Town Hall to update our AAPS community and respond to questions on Wednesday, January 5th at 6 pm. Zoom information will be shared early next week.

(Note: if you look at the AAPS calendar, they only list the school days off for example – December 20-24 and 27-31 – while we have included the weekends)

Thanksgiving is not included in the Major Breaks schedule at the WISD level. As it is most of a week, we are listing it here:. Note: For 2021 additional days were added for Monday and Tuesday, November 22-23.

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Individual Days Off

Individual days off can vary from year to year as dates move on the calendar and circumstances differ. For example, presidential primary was a day off in 2020, Good Friday was not needed in 2021 as it fell during spring break. Make sure to check out our full list of school break camps if you need child care on days off from school.

Below are the 2021-2022 Days Off:

  • Labor Day Friday – Friday, September 3
  • Labor Day – Monday, September 6
  • Pre-Election Day – Monday, November 1 (added October 27)
  • Election Day – Tuesday, November 2 – Find Election Day camps here
  • Friday, December 3 – in response to threats following the Oxford School Shooting
  • Martin Luther King, Jr Day – Monday, January 17
  • Mid-Winter Break (President’s Day) – Monday, February 21
  • Good Friday – Friday, April 15
  • May Election Day – Tuesday, May 3
  • Memorial Day – Monday, May 30
Ann Arbor School Break Camps

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Snow Days

In the 2020-2021 school year, Ann Arbor Public Schools only used one snow day as a sense of normalcy with virtual learning. It will be interesting to see if they use virtual days instead of snow days in 2021-2022.

AAPS has already warned that the city is short on snow plow drivers, so there may need to be more snow days than usual.

As of January 4, 2022 Ann Arbor will have used all 6 of the built in “snow days” – Monday, November 1, Monday & Tuesday November 22 & 23, Friday, December 3, and Monday & Tuesday January 3-4 – none of which were used for weather.

Wednesday, February 2 will be a virtual day due to inclement weather. If the weather causes outages (internet, power), it will be switched to an snow day. An announcement will be made as the storm develops for Thursday and Friday.

Early Release Days (Half Days)

The initial calendar release for the 2021-2022 school year only included the last day of school as an early release day for all grades and Friday, October 29 as an early release for elementary students. There was a note that early release dates would be announced later.

An additional 8 early release days for all ages and one more for middle and high school students were announced for 2021-2022.

  • Wednesday, September 22 – All Students
  • Wednesday, October 20 – All Students
  • Friday, October 29 – Elementary Only, 11:28a release
  • Wednesday, November 17 – All Students
  • Wednesday, January 26 – VIRTUAL morning – All Students
  • Wednesday February 16 – All Students
  • Wednesday, March 16 – All Students
  • Wednesday, April 20 – All Students
  • Thursday, May 5 – Middle & High School Students
  • Wednesday, May 18 – All Students
  • Friday, June 10 – 1/2 Day

Standard Early Release Schedule

  • Elementary (K-5) – 1:18p
  • K-8 Schools – 12:48p
  • Middle Schools – 12:33p
  • High School – 12:21p

This year AAPS has included the hours for the last day of school on the calendar. I’m so glad to see them added. I used to look for them every year and wouldn’t find out until the week before.

  • Elementary (K-5) – 11:28a
  • K-8 Schools – 10:47a
  • Middle Schools – 10:43a
  • High School – 9:40a (make-up exams held after)

High School Exams

Exams will again vary by high school with Skyline and Pathways returning to trimesters and the other high schools staying with semesters.

Semester Schedule (Huron, Pioneer, & Community):

  • Tuesday-Friday, January 18-21
  • Tuesday-Friday, June 7-10 (last week of school)

Trimester Schedule (Skyline & Pathways) – Updated based on email from Skyline Principal – I assume Pathways will use the same schedule. If you are a Pathways parent, student, teacher, or staff and can confirm their schedule, please email us.

  • Friday, November 19 – now a full day of school
  • Monday, November 22 – school closed
  • Tuesday, November 23 – school closed
  • Monday, November 29 is also a. full day of school
  • Exams are Tuesday, November 30-December 2
  • Wednesday-Friday, March 9-11
  • Wednesday-Friday, June 8-10 (last week of school)

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Events from our Sponsors


Testing Days for Middle & High School

There are several days that standardized testing is offered for high school students. The students who are not testing on those days have a late start.

  • Wednesday, October 13 – 11th grade PSAT/NMSQT, late start for 9th, 10th, & 12th
  • Wednesday, April 13 – 8th grade PSAT – Late start for 6th & 7th
  • Wednesday, April 13 – 11th grade SAT, 9th/10th PSAT, late start for 12th & 9th & 10th graders not testing
  • Thursday, April 14 – 11th WorkKeys, 9th/10th PSAT, late start for 12th & 9th & 10th graders not testing

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Bell Times

Bell times have changed for 2021-2022. For many years, there has been a push to start school later for high school students. The all virtual start has allowed the high schools to start later. My daughter has definitely enjoyed the later high school start times in 2020-2021 particularly with not having a commute. While 8am is earlier than virtual start, it is still better than the 7:45a in ’19-20. Meanwhile, elementary schools are starting a bit earlier than in the past. This has considerably narrowed the span between high school and elementary start times – from 71 minutes in 2019-2020 to 45 minutes in 2021-2022. I hope the bus transportation can be worked out.

AAPS School Day Schedule

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Back to School Events

It remains to be seen how Back to School events will be handled in 2021-2022. Hopefully some events like Popsicles on the playground will be able to return. These typically happen the week before school starts – so I would suggest trying to be in town the week of August 23 if your child is starting a new school – or started a new school virtually last year and remained virtual. As a current 9th grader who remained virtual, my daughter is hoping to be able to attend an in person orientation before school starts in the fall.

I will say I enjoyed having curriculum night be virtual. It was easy to join in and would have been especially helpful when my daughter was younger.

Ann Arbor Back to School Events - Curriculum Nights, Registration & Welcome Events

Be sure to check out our list of Back to School Events and our whole Back to School Guide.

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More Back to School Information

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