2026-2027 School Start Time Changes

Beginning in the 2026-2027 school year, start times for the following schools will change by 15 minutes. Classes for these schools will begin at 8AM dismissal times will also shift by 15 minutes.

• Cambridgeport
• Fletcher Maynard Academy
• Graham and Parks
• Haggerty
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Morse
• Tobin Montessori 

Why Are School Times Changing?

For years, district-funded transportation has struggled to provide reliable, on-time arrivals that our students deserve. 

As of School Year 2025-2026, CPS has three separate start times:

• Some schools start class at 7:45AM
• Some schools start class at 8:15AM
• Some schools start class at 8:45AM.

After reviewing attendance and arrival data, we found that about 20 percent of students using district transportation (school buses) arrived late to school, consistently. Because of the three different start times, buses do not have enough time to drop off students in this short amount of time.

To solve this, we are consolidating start times at some elementary schools. This will increase the amount of time that buses have to transport students between start time schedules.

This change will ensure more reliable transportation, give students enough time to eat breakfast, interact with peers, play, check in with teachers as needed, and, most importantly, make the most of the instructional day. 

2026-2027 Start and End Times for Classes
School	Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday	Wednesday
Cambridgeport	8AM - 2:30PM	8AM - 2PM
Fletcher Maynard Academy	8AM - 4PM	8AM - 2PM
Graham & Parks	8AM - 2:30PM	8AM - 2PM
Haggerty	8AM - 2:30PM	8AM - 2PM
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.	8AM - 4PM	8AM - 2PM
Morse	8AM - 2:30PM	8AM - 2PM
Tobin Montessori	8AM - 2:30PM	8AM - 2PM
Amigos, Baldwin, King Open, Peabody, Cambridge Street, Darby Vassall, Putnam Avenue, and Rindge Avenue
	8:45AM - 3:15PM	8:45 - 2:45PM
Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, Rindge School of Technical Arts & High School Extension Program
	8:30AM - 3PM	NO CHANGE

All other preschool - grade 8 schools will remain at their current 8:45AM start time. 

First Day of School for School Year 2026-2027*

• Tuesday, September 1 | First Day of School (Grades 1-12 and Postgraduate)
• Thursday, September 3 | First Day of School (Kindergarten & Cambridge Preschool Program)

*Labor Day  (September 7) falls significantly later in 2026; because of this, the first day of school will start before Labor Day.