South finalized its academic calendar for the 2025-2026 school year including notable changes; school will start and end earlier to accommodate first semester final exams happening before winter break, South Principal Dr. Barbara Georges said. Starting next school year, the first day of school will be Aug. 14, winter break will be from Dec. 19 to Jan. 6, and the last day of school will be May 27.

The calendar is following explicit guidelines set by the State of Illinois and the D225 School Board, such as how many days students are in school and which days students and teachers will have off, Georges said. The calendar was created by South’s Calendar Committee, a coalition of students, teachers, parents, and administrators, to balance all aspects that come with creating an academic calendar, Georges said.

“[The calendar committee creates the calendar] based on what is required and what is preferred, and then we try to fit those into [the] different permutation of the calendar,” Georges said.

A final exam committee consisting of teachers, administrators, and students, has been created to design final exams for the next year, Amanda Moritz, finals exam committee member and French Teacher, said.

“The final exam committee is working to meet everyone’s needs, and it’s challenging to strike the right balance,” Moritz said.

“We’re hoping to implement final exam practices and procedures that work well enough to last us a long time.”

The final exam committee accounts for a variety of variables, including student needs, wellness, achievement, and grading time and impact for staff, Moritz said.

The calendar was originally switched after a D225 survey revealed that many students and their families preferred finals to be moved, wanting to relax during winter break, Georges said. Changing the calendar has not been easy, but the district is hoping this will help students in the long run, Georges said.

“[The calendar] has huge implications on our community, our school, and our families,” Georges said. “We need to ensure that we had the preponderance of stakeholders behind designing that shift.”