What to Know
- All Philly public schools will dismiss early Thursday due to excessive heat.
- Philly schools also dismissed early Tuesday and Wednesday.
- Aug. 27 marks the earliest start to the school year in Philadelphia.
All School District of Philadelphia schools will dismiss early Thursday due to excessive heat. All after-school activities including all athletic programs and professional development sessions scheduled for Thursday are canceled.
Philly schools also closed early Tuesday and Wednesday due to excessive heat.
The Philadelphia area is in the middle of a heat wave in which temperatures are reaching the mid to upper 90s, with the humidity making it feel like the low 100s.
This year saw the earliest start to the school year ever for Philadelphia public school students as classes resumed a full week Labor Day.
The goal of the earlier school year is to focus education on the front end, to avoid "summeritis" and to start without an uninterrupted week so that educators and students can form relationships, Superintendent Dr. William Hite said.
With students back in the classroom, the focus is on the safety and comfort of young people inside and outside the classroom. The work started as soon as the last school year ended in June.
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
More than 1,200 school district workers spent their summer breaks painting and plastering classrooms, improving HVAC systems in schools and modernizing classrooms, the district said. Remediation of asbestos and lead was also completed.
