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New York City’s 2026-27 public school calendar is out, and families can expect a long summer, with the first day of school starting on Thursday, Sept. 10.
They can also expect a late start to next summer, with the last day of school falling on Monday, June 28 — a dog-leg day that’s a recipe for low attendance.
Parents and educators have been eagerly awaiting next year’s calendar, which the Education Department quietly released on Tuesday. School typically starts the Thursday after Labor Day, and because September starts on a Tuesday, this year’s first day of school is on the later side, likely causing many parents child care headaches. (Teachers report to work two days before students return.)
New York state requires 180 days of instruction, but it allows for up to four days of teacher professional development to count toward that target, and New York City is using three such days to meet the mandate. That means students will be in class for 177 days in the coming school year. That number does not include the two half days students have scheduled for parent-teacher conferences.
The current school year calendar had 176 days for students, and then on top of that, the city got a waiver from the state for a snow day in February. In general, because New York City’s school day of six hours and 20 minutes is below the national average, students in the five boroughs spend less time in class than their peers across the country.
Here are some other quirks and notable pieces of information about this year’s calendar:
- Election Day, on Nov. 3, will be a remote day for students, unlike this year when students were off.
- School will be off on Good Friday, which is March 26, but not on the Monday following Easter. In 2023, the Education Department added that Monday to the calendar following backlash.
- To avoid some of that backlash, spring break will be from Thursday, April 22 through Friday, April 30, covering all of Passover.
- Although new holidays have been added to the calendar over the past few years, several of them aren’t days off this year: Diwali, the “festival of lights” celebrated by Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, and Jains around the world, falls on a weekend. Lunar New Year falls during the February mid-winter recess. Juneteenth is on a Saturday.
Education Department officials did not respond to questions about why they scheduled the last day of school on a Monday. When there was a Monday dog-leg day before winter break a few years back, the city ended up giving that as a day off. And this year, the city wound up also granting a day off when students were scheduled to return on Friday, Jan. 2.
City officials also did not respond to questions as to whether they will continue the practice of traditional snow days or will once again pivot to remote learning.
Robert Murtfeld, a parent leader in Manhattan’s District 1, who has been pushing for more family involvement in scheduling the calendar — which is hashed out by the Education Department and teachers union — was disappointed that the city did not immediately notify families upon publishing the calendar.
His district’s Community Education Council, representing Manhattan’s Lower East Side and East Village, passed a resolution earlier this school year calling on the Education Department to make calendar decisions in future years with input from the “broader school community,” including parents and students. In response, Education Department officials wrote, “We are working on creating an online tool for families and others that outlines the school calendar creation process.”
In the end, however, that hasn’t happened, Murtfeld said, adding, “No parents were consulted on the calendar.”
Amy Zimmer is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat New York. Contact Amy atazimmer@chalkbeat.org.
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