Updated July 24 at 2:45 p.m.

The first day of school in Conroe ISD is Aug. 16, which is now less than one month away. Although students in Texas may not start school before the fourth Monday in August, as a District of Innovation, CISD gained the authority to set an earlier start date. Be sure to look over the approved calendar for the 2017-18 school year:

Aug. 8-14: Staff development days
Aug. 15: Staff workday
Aug. 16: First day of school
Sept. 4: Labor Day
Oct. 6: Early release
Oct. 9: Staff/student holiday
Nov. 20-24: Thanksgiving break
Dec. 20: Early release
Dec. 21-Jan. 8: Winter break
Jan. 8: Staff workday
Jan. 15: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Feb. 19: Staff development day/President’s Day
March 9: Early release
March 12-16: Spring break
March 30: Staff/student holiday
May 28: Memorial Day
May 31: Early release/Last day of school
June 1: Staff workday
June 2: Inclement weather day

With the new school calendar and an early start date, CISD students will have 84 school days in the first semester and 94 school days in the second semester, with a total of 178 school days.

CISD is on a quarterly grading system. During the first semester, the first grading period will end Oct. 6, and the second grading period will end Dec. 20. During the second semester, the first grading period will end March 9—when spring break begins—and the second grading period will end May 31.

After unanimously voting in December to become a District of Innovation—a new program approved during the 2015 state legislative session that grants school districts more flexibility and local control on certain state statutes—CISD officials gained control over the school calendar.