# Add School Calendar > This skill should be used when the user asks to "add a school calendar", "import school calendar", "save school calendar", "import PA day dates", "import PA days from PDF", "add a school to the planner", "save school dates", "load school calendar from URL", "import school year", or provides a school calendar PDF or URL and wants it saved as reference data for camp planning. Extracts and saves structured calendar data from school board or private school sources. - Skill: `reggiechan74/add-school-calendar` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 5 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add reggiechan74/add-school-calendar` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/reggiechan74/add-school-calendar/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Docs & Writing - Author: reggiechan74 (https://skillmd.com/u/reggiechan74) - Updated: 2026-09-10 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/reggiechan74/add-school-calendar --- # Add School Calendar ## Overview **Locate research directory:** Read `.claude/kids-camp-planner.local.md` to get the `research_dir` path (default: `camp-research`). All user data paths below are relative to this directory. The family profile is at `/family-profile.md`. Extract school calendar data from a URL, PDF, or web search and save it as a structured reference file in the school-calendars directory. This makes the data instantly available to all planning skills (plan-summer, plan-march-break, plan-pa-days) without requiring web searches for known schools. All planning skills use the **School Calendar Lookup** pattern (see below) before asking the user or searching the web. This skill is what populates the internal library that those lookups check first. ## School Calendar Lookup (3-Tier) This is the standard lookup pattern used by all planning skills in the plugin. When any skill needs school calendar data: ### Tier 1: Check Internal Library Search the plugin's pre-saved calendar data: - Public boards: `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/camp-planning/references/school-calendars/public-boards/` - Private schools: `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/camp-planning/references/school-calendars/private-schools/` Use Glob to find files matching the school name or abbreviation. If a matching file exists and covers the required school year, use it directly. Inform the user: "Found [school] calendar data in the internal library for [year]." If data exists but is for a different school year, inform the user and proceed to Tier 2. ### Tier 2: Ask the User If no internal data is found, ask the user: "I don't have [school name] calendar data saved. Do you have the school calendar available? You can provide:" - A PDF file path - A URL to the school calendar page - Or I can search the web for it ### Tier 3: Web Search If the user doesn't have the calendar handy, conduct a web search: 1. Search for "[school name] school year calendar [YYYY-YYYY]" or "[school board] PA days [YYYY-YYYY]" 2. **Prioritize the official school/board website** - avoid third-party aggregator sites 3. **Ensure the correct school year** is retrieved (verify dates match the expected year) 4. If a **PDF is found**: download it using Bash (`curl -L -o`) and save to `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/camp-planning/references/school-calendars/pdfs/[abbreviation]/[abbreviation]-[YYYY-YYYY].pdf`, then read the PDF to extract data 5. If the information is **only on a webpage**: extract directly to markdown (no PDF to save) After extracting data from any tier, proceed to the extraction and saving workflow below. ## Workflow ### Step 1: Identify the School Collect the following (skip any the user has already provided): - **School name** (full name) - **Abbreviation** for the filename (e.g., TDSB, GIST, UCC, BSS) - **School type**: public board, Catholic board, or private/independent. Note: Catholic boards (e.g., TCDSB, DPCDSB) are treated as separate public boards with their own PA day schedules, not as private schools. - **Region** (e.g., Toronto, York Region, Peel Region) - **School year(s)** being added (e.g., 2025-2026) Then run the 3-Tier Lookup above. If Tier 1 finds existing data and the user just wants to verify it, show them the saved data and offer to update it. ### Step 2: Extract Calendar Data Read the source (PDF via Read tool, URL via WebFetch, or web search results) and extract all of the following. If a field cannot be found, mark it as "Not specified" rather than guessing. #### Required Fields | Field | Example | |-------|---------| | First instructional day | September 2, 2025 | | Last instructional day (elementary) | June 25, 2026 | | Last instructional day (secondary) | June 24, 2026 | | PA days with dates and day-of-week | Sep 26 (Fri), Oct 10 (Fri)... | | March break dates | March 16-20, 2026 | | Winter/Christmas break dates | December 22 - January 2 | | Summer break start | Day after last instructional day | #### Optional Fields (extract if available) | Field | Example | |-------|---------| | Fall break dates | November 3-7, 2025 | | Early dismissal dates | June 26 (1:15pm) | | Exam periods | January 26-29 | | PA day purposes | "Parent Teacher Conferences" | | Special events affecting scheduling | "Camp Pine Crest Sep 16-19" | | Next year start date | August 31, 2026 | #### Holidays (extract all with dates) Standard Ontario holidays to look for: - Labour Day - National Day for Truth & Reconciliation (Sep 30) - Thanksgiving - Remembrance Day - Family Day - Good Friday - Easter Monday - Victoria Day ### Step 3: Cross-Reference (Private Schools Only) For private/independent schools, identify the **nearest public board** (typically TDSB for Toronto schools) and create a comparison: 1. **PA day alignment table**: Compare each private school PA day against the public board's PA days. Count how many overlap. 2. **Break differences**: Note any breaks that differ (extended March break, fall break, early starts). 3. **Coverage challenge ranking**: Rank unique coverage gaps by difficulty (see the GIST file at `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/camp-planning/references/school-calendars/private-schools/gist.md` for the format). To cross-reference, check if the public board's calendar is already saved (Tier 1 lookup). If not saved, offer to add it first or note that cross-referencing will need the public board data later. ### Step 4: Calculate Summer Coverage Window Compute the summer coverage window: - **Coverage start**: First weekday after last instructional day - **Coverage end**: Last weekday before the fall start date - If fall start date is unknown, use the day after Labour Day as the default - Run the summer dates calculator for precise numbers: ```bash python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/plan-summer/scripts/summer_dates.py \ --year YYYY --last-school-day YYYY-MM-DD --first-fall-day YYYY-MM-DD --format text ``` If the script is unavailable, calculate manually: count all weekdays (Mon-Fri) between the day after the last instructional day and the day before the fall start date, excluding Labour Day. - Note the total weekdays and approximate weeks ### Step 5: Save the Calendar File Save the structured markdown data following the established format. **Markdown file location:** - Public boards: `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/camp-planning/references/school-calendars/public-boards/[abbreviation].md` - Private schools: `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/camp-planning/references/school-calendars/private-schools/[abbreviation].md` **PDF file location** (if a PDF was downloaded in Tier 3): - `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/camp-planning/references/school-calendars/pdfs/[abbreviation]/[abbreviation]-[YYYY-YYYY].pdf` **File structure**: Use the full template at `references/calendar-template.md`. Key sections: - Header metadata (name, type, region, website, contact info) - Key Dates table - PA Days tables (elementary and secondary) - PA day alignment table (private schools only - compare against nearest public board) - Holidays & Breaks table (private schools add public board comparison column) - Early Dismissal Days - Summer Window calculation - Planning Notes and Coverage Challenges (private schools only) ### Step 6: Confirm and Update References After saving: 1. Confirm the file was created and show a summary of what was extracted 2. If a PDF was downloaded, note the saved PDF path for reference 3. List any fields that were marked "Not specified" - ask if the user can fill them in 4. If this school is used in the family profile (`/family-profile.md`), inform the user that other skills will now automatically use this data via Tier 1 lookup 5. Offer to add another school year or another school ## Handling Ambiguous or Incomplete Sources - **PDF won't parse**: Ask the user to open the PDF and paste the key dates manually, or try reading it with the Read tool - **Dates are unclear**: Present what was extracted and ask the user to confirm before saving - **Multiple calendar versions**: Ask which version to use (draft vs final, revised vs original) - **Missing PA days**: Some schools release PA days later. Save what's available and note "PA days TBD - check [source] for updates" - **Web search returns wrong year**: Refine the search with explicit year. Check the source document for revision dates. ## Additional Resources ### Templates - **`references/calendar-template.md`** - Blank template matching the established file format ### Existing Calendar Files Reference these for format consistency: - `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/camp-planning/references/school-calendars/public-boards/tdsb.md` - `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/camp-planning/references/school-calendars/private-schools/gist.md` ### Scripts - **`scripts/scrape_board_calendar.py`** - HTML calendar page scraper. Produces draft-quality markdown from school board websites. Requires human/agent review. Use for boards with HTML calendar pages; PDF-only boards still need manual extraction. - **`scripts/validate_calendar.py`** - Calendar file validator. Checks required sections, parseable dates, school year format. Use `--all` to validate an entire directory.