To:     Undersecretaries
Assistant Secretaries
Bureau Directors
Directors of Services, Centers and Heads of Units
Regional Directors
Schools Division Superintendents
Heads, Public and Private Elementary and Secondary Schools
All Others Concerned

1. The School Calendar for School Year (SY) 2015-2016 shows the school events and activities for the said SY. The core events and activities for this SY, which represent the actual teaching-learning days, shall be strictly observed in all schools.
2. The SY 2015-2016 shall begin on Monday, June 1, 2015 and shall end on Friday, April 1, 2016.  The SY will consist of 201 school days, inclusive of the five-day In-Service Training (INSET) break. The different school events and activities, including the number of school days per quarter, are contained in Enclosure No. 1.
3. Private schools may deviate from this School Calendar.  However, they may not start classes earlier than the first Monday of June and not later than the last day of August, as provided in Republic Act (RA) No. 7797 entitled An Act to Lengthen the School Calendar from Two Hundred (200) Days to Not More Than Two Hundred Twenty (220) Class Days.  They should notify the appropriate DepEd officials in advance regarding any deviation.
4. Specific guidelines are provided in Enclosure No. 2 to enable the schools to effectively and efficiently conduct/undertake/implement the school events and activities and to allow the regional offices (ROs) and schools division offices (SDOs) to provide support to the schools, especially in the areas of instruction and progress monitoring and evaluation.
5. Schools may observe national and local celebrations, holidays and advocacy activities other than those indicated in Enclosure No. 3, provided that the total number of school days shall not be compromised.  Make-up classes can therefore be conducted to compensate for the school days spent for activities deemed beneficial to the learning-teaching process. Likewise, make-up classes are recommended in lieu of no-school days due to occurrence of a natural and man-made calamities. A mechanism for having make-up classes must be agreed upon by school administrators and parents.  In this regard, the RO may issue a regional school calendar to reflect their respective concerns.
6. Immediate dissemination of and strict compliance with this Order is directed.

(Sgd.) BR. ARMIN A. LUISTRO FSC
Secretary

Encls.: As stated
Reference: DepEd Order:  No. 18, s. 2014
To be indicated in the Perpetual Index under the following subjects: