Dayton City School in Rhea County closed early this week, taking a couple of extra days for the holiday to allow students and staff to recover from illness.
"Dayton City School will be closed on Thursday, Dec. 14, and Friday, Dec. 15, due to continued high numbers of staff and student illness," school officials said in a statement posted on social media. "Enjoy an extended holiday break. Students return on Jan. 3."
According to the system's calendar, Thursday was a full school day and Friday was going to be an abbreviated day with classes dismissing at 10 a.m. That's 21 consecutive days off, counting weekends and holidays, before classes resume.
Trish Newsom, Dayton City School's director of schools, did not immediately respond to a message left for her with a school official or an email seeking more details.
Dayton City School students were also out of school Monday due to a water outage, according to officials.
— Compiled by Ben Benton