The growing share of Indian students at Unionville-Chadds Ford School District now have an official platform to share their heritage.

The school board recently decided t o add the Hindu holiday Diwali and the Asian Lunar New Year as days off for students, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer report by Kathy Boccella.

“For a lot of people like myself, (Diwali is) a cultural activity, just as Christmas,” said DuPont engineer Dell Joshi.

Chester County is home to the Philly area’s highest 10-year growth rate of residents with Indian heritage, and the Asian population in Unionville-Chadds Ford now stands at 10 percent of students.

“We’re a diverse community, and we wanted to be respectful and really accepting of all the different cultures that make up our community,” said Superintendent John Sanville.

This year, Diwali falls on Oct. 19 while the Lunar New Year will come around Feb. 16, 2018. Unionville-Chadds Ford teachers will still have an in-service training both days.

“Building it in the calendar is great,” said Hindu American Foundation Executive Director Suhag Shukla, “so that it’s on the radar for teachers, and it gives students a feeling that ‘my school and teachers know about me.’”

Read more about the newest Unionville-Chadds Ford school holidays in the Philadelphia Inquirer here.