For working parents and just about any commuter, summer can be a lovely thing.
A break from the rigid schedule of pickups and dropoffs at school. A break for family vacations. A (slight) break from gridlock on metro Atlanta’s notorious thoroughfares.
Well, that break is about to end.
Most metro districts return to school by early August, starting with Cobb County on July 31.
Major road arteries should return to rush hour red on Internet maps by Aug. 7, when some of the biggest districts, including Gwinnett County, re-open their doors.
By then, school buses and the parents of well over 700,000 students will have resumed their normal driving routines.
As you savor these last weeks of summer bliss (air conditioning assumed), here’s a convenient list of the back-to-school dates for 17 metro districts.
(Click the links to see more 2017-18 calendar details for each school district.)
Atlanta: Aug. 1
Buford: Aug. 3
Clayton County: Aug. 7
Cobb County: July 31
Cherokee County: Aug. 1
Coweta County: Aug. 4
Decatur: Aug. 1
DeKalb County: Aug. 7
Douglas County: Aug. 7
Fayette County: Aug. 7
Forsyth County: Aug. 3
Fulton County: Aug. 7
Gwinnett County: Aug. 7
Henry County: July 31
Marietta: Aug. 3
Newton County: July 28
Rockdale County: July 31