School will start earlier in 2017 for Atlanta students

Under new calendars the Atlanta school board gave initial approval to Monday, school will start on August 1 in 2017..

The calendars, which cover the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years, have five-day breaks in October and February. School ends on the Friday before Memorial Day.

About 38 percent of the 2,200 people who responded to an Atlanta Public Schools calendar survey preferred that option to two others with later start dates and shorter breaks.

District officials said the new calendar will also let them hold”vacation academies” to offer extra help for students at low-performing schools.