MDCPS releases key fall dates, clarifies Brickell school boundaries

Brickell parents eyeing the next school year now have clearer guidance on where their children will attend class and when school will be in session, as Miami-Dade County Public Schools has posted updated academic calendars and boundary maps for downtown-area campuses. The information is available through the district’s official portal at dadeschools.net and the Miami-Dade County Public Schools mobile app, according to district documents and calendar PDFs reviewed Wednesday.

For the current 2024-25 year, the district’s adopted secondary A/B calendar lists November 11 as Veterans Day and November 28 as Thanksgiving, both designated as holidays for students and employees, with additional recess days November 25–27 and November 29, according to the Miami Sunset Senior High calendar published by MDCPS. Winter recess runs December 23 through January 3, 2025, and the second semester begins January 21 following the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on January 20, the document shows. Spring recess is scheduled for March 24–28, with Memorial Day falling on May 26 and the last day of school set for June 5, 2025, for students on that calendar track.

Looking ahead, the district’s 2025-26 elementary and secondary calendar, posted in an official MDCPS PDF, sets Thanksgiving for November 27, 2025, as a Board-approved holiday, with a surrounding recess period for students and 10‑month and 11.5‑month employees. Winter recess in that year runs from December 22, 2025, through January 2, 2026, again with exceptions for Fraternal Order of Police and select 12‑month personnel, according to the document. Families with children in both elementary and secondary schools are being advised by the district to review the specific calendar that applies to their child’s grade level, since teacher planning days can vary by school.

While CBS News Miami first reported that the district had updated attendance information, the most authoritative source for Brickell families remains the MDCPS boundary and enrollment tools housed on the official district website. Using the “School Information” and “Find My Neighborhood School” functions on dadeschools.net, parents living along Brickell Avenue, South Miami Avenue, and in high‑rise towers near the Miami River can enter their home address to confirm their zoned elementary, K‑8, middle, and high schools. Boundary maps for downtown and Brickell-area campuses are maintained by the district’s Attendance Boundary Office and are periodically updated through School Board action, though no major new Brickell rezoning has been formally adopted in the most recent public records available.

The clarified calendars and boundary tools are particularly important for families weighing magnet, choice, and charter options near Brickell, including downtown schools north of the river and across the Rickenbacker Causeway commute. Enrollment and transfer deadlines are set by School Board policy and detailed in district enrollment guidelines posted online; families are encouraged to contact individual school registrars for campus-specific requirements, such as proof-of-residency documents and immunization records. MDCPS officials have repeatedly directed parents to rely on the district’s own portals and School Board-approved calendar PDFs rather than third-party summaries circulating on social media.

Brickell residents who still have questions about their child’s assignment can call the MDCPS Attendance Services office or visit the Parent Information Center at the district’s downtown administrative complex near NE Second Avenue, where staff can verify addresses using county property records. The district also publishes bus transportation eligibility, bell schedules, and any School Board-approved boundary adjustments through formal agenda items and meeting minutes, which are archived on the School Board’s website. Families are being urged to review those primary documents now to avoid last-minute surprises when the fall semester begins.