Unlike in Hartford, Waterbury, East Haven, Hamden, New Canaan, Westport, Branford, and North Haven, New Haven’s public schools will return from winter break on Friday, Jan. 2. At least, that’s the current plan. The Board of Education will be hosting a special online meeting Friday afternoon to consider closing down classes on Jan. 2, after all. The city school district’s winter recess runs from Dec. 24 through Jan. 1, as it has in recent years. Because of the way the calendar shakes out this year, that means that New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) students and staff will have only one day of school that week. All of the other Connecticut public school districts mentioned at the top of this story resume school after winter break on either Monday, Jan. 5 or on Wednesday, Jan. 7. None of these school districts — including New Haven’s — are open on Tuesday, Jan. 6, which is Three Kings Day. In the past three years, Jan. 2 fell on a day earlier in the week. “This year’s challenge was that to avoid bringing folks back to school on Jan. 2, the school year would have extended past Juneteenth,” NHPS spokesperson Justin Harmon told the Independent. “In either case, you end up with a situation in which folks come back for a single day before going out again.” He added that the school calendar each year is created between the district and the teachers union. Teachers union President Leslie Blatteau declined to comment for this story. Meanwhile, the Board of Education has announced plans to hold a special meeting online at 1:45 p.m. Friday. One of the items on that agenda is: “Discussion and possible action on proposal to close New Haven Public Schools on Friday, January 2, 2026.” Reached for comment Thursday, Board of Education student representative and Career High School student Abdellah Aly urged the district to be closed on Jan. 2. “If you want students to actually want to come to school, you are not to stress them out, you are supposed give them time to regenerate, or they will experience constant burn outs (if that is not happening already),” he wrote. “So in short, have Friday off, have Monday off as well, and let my students whom I represent get a well deserved break, they are burned out as is and I have been told that so many times this year across the district. It is not beneficial to keep them in.” Aly also suggested that, when students do return from winter break, educators should gradually increase class work and lectures to avoid students burning out and disengaging. Is New Haven the only district in the state that has school on Jan. 2? Unclear. State Department of Education spokesperson Matthew Cerrone said that his department does not keep track of each district’s calendar. This reporter was able to confirm that Hartford, Waterbury, East Haven, Hamden, New Canaan, Westport, Branford, and North Haven all return after Jan. 2. Many of these districts conclude their respective school years before New Haven’s final day on June 17. These districts also all began their school years before New Haven. New Haven’s first day of school was on Thursday, Aug. 28. The first day of school in Waterbury, North Haven, and Hamden was on Monday, Aug. 25 The first day of school in Hartford, Westport, New Canaan, and East Haven was on Tuesday, Aug. 26. Asked about what NHPS is doing to make sure students show up to school on Jan. 2, Harmon passed along a “holiday playbook” that the Office of Youth, Family and Community Engagement has circulated. Click here and here to read the district’s high school and preK-8 guides. The post One-Day School Week To Be Reconsidered appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less