Winter Break Starts Wednesday for Atlanta Public Schools

It's the most wonderful time of the year for many Atlanta Public Schools pupils.

Today is the last day of school and students are off until the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 3rd, for the system's winter break.

"The kids are excited but the principal made it clear on the PA sytem this morning that this is a regular instructional school day just like any other," said Pat Jenkins-Nyaguze, the School Clerk at Brown Middle School. "I'm excited myself."

Jenkins-Nyaguze said Brown's school day for the 618 students is 8:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. As always, drivers should be careful when passing by the school this afternoon "because of the excitment."

Keith Bromery, spokesperson for the district, said the winter break is an exciting time for students and a nice break for employees but learning is still an option during the time off.

“During this lengthy period," Bromery said, "we advise parents to keep their kids engaged in some sort of educational activities as opposed to playing all the time.”

According to the Atlanta Public Schools website, some 47,789 students are enrolled in 101 schools in the city.

For a 2011-2012 calendar for the district's 96 traditional schools, please see the attached PDF.