In September 2024, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) opened a public survey for stakeholders to provide input on the Academic Calendars for 2025-26 and 2026-27. This report summarizes responses to the 16,485 survey responses received, including preferences for each calendar year and key themes that emerged from comments on open-ended questions.

Key findings include:

• Over 16,000 students, parents/guardians, staff, and external partners responded to the survey, more than four times the number of people who responded when the survey was last administered in 2022.
• Calendar options that prioritized longer breaks and more frequent holidays during the school year were consistently the most popular among students, staff, and external partners who responded to the survey, even when these options required an earlier start to the school year.
• Parents/guardians were the only respondent group that expressed a stronger preference for calendar options that prioritized a later start to the school year over more days off during the school year. However, calendar versions that prioritized religious and cultural holidays were the most popular among Black/African American and Hispanic/Latinx parents, who were under-represented in the survey.