School Hours & Bell Schedule

School Hours

Regular Bell Schedule

Monday through Friday: 8:30 a.m. - 3:25 p.m.

  • First Bell 8:30 a.m.
  • Second Bell 8:40 a.m. Students arriving after 8:40 a.m. are marked late.
  • Dismissal Bell 3:25 p.m.

Office Hours

Monday through Friday: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Limited Early Release Mondays for the 2024-2025 School Year 

Providing an excellent education to all students and meeting individual student needs requires appropriate planning time for teachers. This means teachers need a dedicated block of time to prepare lessons, participate in professional development and training, and collaborate with peers.

With that in mind, FCPS has developed a divisionwide plan for seven three-hour early release days (Mondays) for elementary students in the 2024-25 school year. 

Early release Mondays for elementary schools in the following pyramids are planned for the dates below: Herndon, Langley, Madison, Marshall, McLean, South Lakes, Centreville, Chantilly, Fairfax, Oakton, Robinson, and Westfield.

  • September 23
  • October 28
  • November 25
  • February 24
  • March 17
  • April 28
  • May 19

Important Information About Early Release Days

As we get closer to the early release days, teachers and administration will provide more information. For details on how increased teacher planning time benefits your child's learning, please visit the FCPS website.

Emergency School Closing, Delayed Opening or Early Dismissal

In  the  event  of  an  emergency,  such  as extreme  heat,  cold  or  snow,  the  Division Superintendent may decide to:

  • Close schools for the day
  • Open schools two hours late, or
  • Close schools two hours early.

All emergency closings and delayed openings shall be announced in the following ways:

  • Listed on the Fairfax County Public Schools website: www.fcps.edu.
  • Sent by electronic mail (e-mail).
  • Carried on the division’s public access channel, Cox Cable Channel 21.
  • Closings and delayed openings are provided to local radio and television stations no later than 5:30 a.m.
  • Early closings are provided to local stations no later than 10:30 a.m.

All-Day Closing

  • All schools shall be closed for the day.
  • Extracurricular activities,  interscholastic contests,  team practices,  field trips, adult and community education classes,  and recreation programs in schools and on school grounds are canceled.
  • All offices are open unless the closing of offices is specified.

Two-Hour Delayed Opening - 10:30 a.m. - 3:25 p.m.

  • Students in grades K-6 shall report two hours later than their regular schedule.
  • Morning field trips are canceled.

With any delayed opening, the buses will arrive to pick up the students two hours later than the regularly scheduled time.

Two-Hour Early Dismissal - 8:30 a.m. - 1:25 p.m.

  • All students shall be dismissed two hours early.
  • Field trips are canceled.

Snow Day Modified Instructional Schedule 2022 - Virtual Learning 10:30 am - 3:15 pm

The instructional block times are located in the PDF