Rochester area schools, and those around the state, are off on Jan. 29 to celebrate a holiday for the first time.

Students in New York City and the rest of the state will welcome the year of the snake for the first time outside the classroom. Public schools will close on Wednesday in observance of the Lunar New Year.

You may have noticed school districts across New York State are closed on Wednesday. According to the New York State Education Department (NYSED), a law signed in September 2023 prohibits school districts from holding sessions on the Lunar New Year.

New York public schools will be closed on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, in recognition of the Lunar New Year. The holiday, widely celebrated by Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities, was officially added to the school calendar by Governor Kathy Hochul in January 2024.