Pickens County School District utilizes a “balanced calendar” with the school year, 180 days of instruction, beginning August 1 (or the first Monday in August if that falls on a weekend) and augmented with five break periods throughout the year.  The school year ends at or around Memorial Day, with June and July off.  

The balanced calendar has many advantages:

• Periodic breaks (September, November, December, February and April) throughout the year are restorative for both students and staff and allow opportunity for remediation in February, rather than waiting until the end of the year.

• Having additional breaks throughout the year allows for maintenance work on buildings and buses to be completed with minimal disruption to instructional time and support services.

• The shorter summer reduces knowledge retention issues for students.

• The earlier start allows for a full week at Thanksgiving which better accommodates travel and time with family.

• The August 1 start allows the first semester to end in December, so students are not completing projects or studying for finals over winter break (which also aligns with college semester start and end times, a concern for dual enrolled high school students).

• The breaks allow students and staff to schedule routine appointments (doctor, dentist, orthodontist, etc.) or elective surgeries without having to miss class time or wait until the end of the school year.