Winter break 2026–2027: Christmas holiday dates by school district
Christmas 2026 falls on a Friday and New Year’s Day 2027 on the next Friday. Most districts close for about two weeks, but start and return dates differ: here they are, district by district.
Winter break is the longest closure of the school year after summer. In 2026 Christmas Day falls on a Friday and New Year’s Day 2027 on the following Friday, so most districts build their break around those two weeks.
The differences are at the edges. Some districts start the break on Monday, December 21; others keep students in class until December 23. On the other side, the return date ranges from Monday, January 4 to later in the week when a district adds a teacher work day.
The table below comes from each district’s official 2026–2027 calendar and shows the first and last closed day and the number of weekdays without class. The first day back is the day after the last closed day, unless it falls on a weekend.
Districts in snow-prone states sometimes keep a “midwinter” break in February as well; it is listed on their calendar pages and is not counted here.
Sources: each district’s official 2026–2027 calendar, linked from its calendar page with the date we last checked it.
