A school-year schedule defines the parenting time arrangement during the academic year. It should be built around the specific school calendar the child actually attends rather than a generic academic year assumption.

The school-year schedule typically addresses the regular weekly pattern of overnights, which parent has the child on which school nights, and how school pickup and drop-off are coordinated. It should account for the child's extracurricular commitments and how those interact with the parenting schedule.

The school-year schedule and the summer schedule are usually different because the logistical constraints that drive the school-year arrangement do not apply in the same way during summer.