HISD Calendar 2026-2027: Houston ISD Calendar Dates and Holidays

The HISD calendar for 2026-2027 runs from Monday, August 10, 2026, through Friday, May 28, 2027, covering 181 instructional days.

The HISD calendar 2026-2027 governs every instructional day, holiday, and grading deadline for Houston Independent School District students, teachers, and staff.

Houston ISD’s Board of Managers approved the 2026-27 academic calendar at its February 12, 2026, meeting, setting the framework that families and campuses will follow for the entire school year.

The Board of Managers approved it on February 12, 2026. Spring break falls March 8–12, 2027.

What Is the HISD Calendar 2026-2027?

The HISD calendar 2026-2027 is the official academic schedule published by Houston Independent School District, specifying the first and last days of instruction, grading cycle boundaries, report card dates, holidays, recess periods, and staff professional development days for the 2026-27 school year.

The calendar was developed using feedback from HISD’s District Advisory Committee, Teacher Advisory Council, district teachers and staff, campus leaders, and community members, and it remains consistent with the district’s 2025-26 calendar at 181 total instructional days.

The development process involved direct community input rather than a single administrative decision. HISD surveyed the District Advisory Council, Teacher Advisory Council, district staff, and campus leaders on two proposed draft calendars in December 2025, then sent two modified drafts to families, staff, and community members in January 2026, drawing more than 6,000 responses.

Most respondents in both surveyed groups said they preferred a calendar that begins the school year on a Monday, ends on a Friday, and finishes the school year for students before Memorial Day, and the district incorporated that preference into the final calendar. This differs from the prior year’s calendar, which extended instruction into the first week of June.

This guide does not cover printable formats, downloadable templates, or campus-specific bell schedules. It focuses on the district-wide dates, holidays, and academic structure that apply across HISD’s traditional calendar campuses.

HISD Calendar 2026-2027 Key Dates at a Glance

The table below lists the anchor dates that most parents, students, and staff search for first.

How Many Instructional Days Are in the HISD 2026-2027 Calendar?

The HISD 2026-2027 calendar provides 181 instructional days, running from Monday, August 10, 2026, through Friday, May 28, 2027.

This figure exceeds the state floor: Texas Education Code requires each district to operate for at least 75,600 minutes of instruction per school year, including intermissions and recesses.

At an average school day of roughly seven hours, 181 days translate to well above that statutory minimum, giving HISD a buffer for inclement-weather closures without falling short of state requirements.

Individual campuses on modified or extended-year calendars may operate a different number of days; this figure applies to HISD’s traditional 181-day calendar.

HISD Calendar 2026-2027 by Month

HISD’s official yearly calendar document spans from June 2026 through July 2027, combining the 5th Quarter summer session with the standard August-to-May instructional year.

The breakdown below follows that same structure.

August Through October 2026: Back-to-School Through Fall

First Day for Students: HISD Calendar 2026-2027 Start Date

The first day for students on the HISD calendar 2026-2027 is Monday, August 10, 2026, marking the start of Grading Cycle 1.

Staff report earlier: all-staff induction and preparation runs Monday, August 3, 2026, through Friday, August 7, 2026. Labor Day, observed Monday, September 7, 2026, is the first districtwide holiday of the year.

A staff professional development day with no student classes follows on Monday, September 21, 2026. Grading Cycle 1 ends Friday, September 18, 2026, with report cards issued Friday, September 25, 2026.

Grading Cycle 2 begins on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, and a second staff PD day falls on Friday, October 9, 2026.

November 2026 Through February 2027: Holidays and Winter Break

Thanksgiving break runs Monday, November 23, 2026, through Friday, November 27, 2026, with Thanksgiving Day itself observed Thursday, November 26, 2026. A staff PD day precedes the break on Friday, November 6, 2026, coinciding with Grading Cycle 2’s report card date.

Grading Cycle 3 spans Monday, November 2, 2026, through Friday, December 18, 2026. Winter recess begins Monday, December 21, 2026, and continues through Thursday, December 31, 2026. New Year’s Day is observed on Friday, January 1, 2027.

Students and staff return for a professional development day on Monday, January 4, 2027, before Grading Cycle 4 begins on Tuesday, January 5, 2027. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed Monday, January 18, 2027.

February brings one staff PD day, Monday, February 15, 2027, with no districtwide student holiday that month.

March Through May 2027: Spring Break to the Last Day

Grading Cycle 4 ends Friday, February 19, 2027, with report cards issued Friday, February 26, 2027, the same week Grading Cycle 5 begins (Monday, February 22, 2027).

Spring break runs Monday, March 8, 2027, through Friday, March 12, 2027. A staff professional development day falls later in the month, on Friday, March 26, 2027.

Grading Cycle 5 ends Thursday, April 15, 2027, followed immediately by another staff PD day on Friday, April 16, 2027, and report cards on Friday, April 23, 2027. Grading Cycle 6, the final cycle, begins Monday, April 19, 2027.

Memorial Day is observed Monday, May 31, 2027 — after, not during, the instructional calendar. The last day for students is Friday, May 28, 2027, which also closes Grading Cycle 6.

Summer 2026 and 2027: The Fifth Quarter

The 5th Quarter is a voluntary summer instructional period, not a mandatory extension of the school year. It gives students who need to meet promotion standards or who want to sharpen their test-taking skills for exams like STAAR the option to attend summer classes.

On the HISD calendar 2026-2027, the 5th Quarter appears twice: once bridging the close of the 2025-26 year (June 10 through June 30, 2026, and July 1 through July 17, 2026) and once opening the 2027-28 transition (June 8 through June 30, 2027, and July 1 through July 15, 2027).

Juneteenth is observed within this window both years — Friday, June 19, 2026, and Friday, June 18, 2027. Independence Day is observed on Friday, July 3, 2026 (since July 4, 2026 falls on a Saturday) and Monday, July 5, 2027 (since July 4, 2027 falls on a Sunday).

School Leaders’ Induction and Preparation runs Monday, July 20, 2026, through Wednesday, July 29, 2026, followed by All Staff Induction and Preparation on Thursday and Friday, July 30–31, 2026, and again Monday through Friday, August 3–7, 2026, ahead of the new school year.

HISD Holidays and Recess Days for 2026-2027

Which Holidays Does HISD Observe in 2026-2027?

HISD observes seven core districtwide holidays and recess periods during the 2026-2027 instructional year.

These include:

• Labor Day — Monday, September 7, 2026
• Thanksgiving Break — Monday through Friday, November 23–27, 2026
• Winter Break — Monday, December 21, 2026, through Friday, January 1, 2027
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day — Monday, January 18, 2027
• Spring Break — Monday through Friday, March 8–12, 2027
• Juneteenth — observed within the adjoining 5th Quarter sessions
• Independence Day — observed within the adjoining 5th Quarter sessions

Memorial Day, observed Monday, May 31, 2027, falls after the last instructional day and functions as a summer marker rather than a break within the school year.

This scheduling was intentional: Texas law prohibits districts from scheduling student instruction on Memorial Day, so HISD’s May 28, 2027, end date sits ahead of it by design.

Which Holidays Are Not on the HISD 2026-2027 Calendar?

Two dates that appeared as staff holidays on the 2025-26 calendar do not appear on the 2026-2027 calendar: Presidents’ Day and César Chávez–Dolores Huerta Day.

The 2026-27 calendar includes four fewer districtwide holidays and recess days than the prior year and no longer gives staff a day off for Presidents’ Day or Good Friday.

Columbus Day and Veterans Day are also absent from the 2026-2027 HISD calendar; neither appears as a recess, holiday, or staff PD day, meaning HISD holds regular classes on both dates.

Parents searching for a Columbus Day or Veterans Day closure will not find one on this calendar.

HISD Grading Periods and Report Card Schedule 2026-2027

HISD divides the 2026-2027 school year into six grading cycles, each closing with a report card distributed roughly one week later.

Grading Cycle 3 is the longest gap between cycle end and report card date — six weeks separate December 18, 2026, from January 8, 2027 — because winter break falls between the two.

Progress reports, which HISD typically issues at the midpoint of each cycle, are not published on the district’s public yearly calendar and should be confirmed directly with individual campuses.

HISD Calendar 2026-2027 vs. 2025-2026: What Changed

Comparing the two calendars side by side clarifies what shifted for the new school year.

The most significant change is the end date. The 2026-27 calendar starts August 10 and ends May 28 for students, marking a shift from HISD’s prior practice of ending the school year during the first week of June.

Total instructional days stayed flat at 181, but the district compressed the calendar by removing two staff holidays and shifting the academic year roughly one week earlier at both ends.

Staff Professional Development Days and the Teacher Calendar

The HISD 2026-2027 calendar includes seven staff professional development days during the core school year, each held with no student classes.

These fall on September 21, October 9, 2026; January 4, February 15, March 26, April 16, and June 1, 2027.

Two additional staff PD days bookend the 5th Quarter summer sessions: Tuesday, June 9, 2026, and Monday, June 7, 2027. The last day for teachers is Tuesday, June 1, 2027 — four days after the last day for students — giving staff time to finalize Grading Cycle 6 records and close out the year administratively.

This differs from a student holiday: staff report to campuses on PD days while students remain home.

HISD School Closures and the Accelerate Houston Plan

HISD is not closing schools mid-year on the 2026-2027 calendar, but the district is reducing its total campus count heading into the year.

State-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles recommended closing 12 schools, consolidating operations into 11 total facilities, for the 2026-27 school year, citing enrollment declines and aging infrastructure.

HISD enrollment fell from more than 214,000 students in the 2013-2014 school year to approximately 168,000 in the current year, and 23% of HISD schools currently operate below 50% of their capacity. The closures fall under a district initiative called Accelerate Houston.

The plan builds on a $4.4 billion bond proposal from 2024 that aimed to consolidate 15 schools into seven renovated or rebuilt campuses.

This calendar guide does not list which specific campuses are closing or their consolidation assignments, since those decisions are made and updated at the individual-school level rather than on the districtwide academic calendar.

Families should confirm campus-specific status directly through HISD’s official communications rather than relying on the yearly calendar document.

About Houston Independent School District

Who Governs HISD?

Houston ISD is governed by a state-appointed Board of Managers rather than an elected school board. The Texas Education Agency, led by Commissioner Mike Morath, took control of HISD in 2023, replacing the elected board of trustees with appointed managers during the state intervention.

Mike Miles has served as HISD’s state-appointed superintendent since the takeover, and it is this Board of Managers — not an elected board — that approved the 2026-2027 academic calendar in February 2026.

Academically, HISD reported gains on state tests during the 2025-26 year, with the district moving above the median in reading and math and nearly 200 campuses earning “A” or “B” state accountability ratings.

How Large Is Houston ISD?

Houston ISD is the largest public school district in Texas. The district contains 274 schools and roughly 184,000 students, with a staff count of approximately 23,961 employees as of the 2025-2026 school year.

The district organizes its campuses into four operational divisions — North, South, Central, and West — each led by an assistant superintendent-level chief.

HISD requires students to attend at least 90% of school calendar days to remain in good attendance standing, and it tracks excused and unexcused absences under state truancy law.

These figures will shift somewhat for 2026-2027 as the 12 planned school closures take effect, though the district has not published a revised total campus count for the new academic year.

Frequently Asked Questions About the HISD Calendar 2026-2027

What This HISD Calendar Guide Does Not Cover

This guide addresses HISD’s districtwide instructional calendar: start and end dates, holidays, recess periods, grading cycles, and staff PD days. It does not cover several related but distinct schedules:

• Daily bell schedules, which vary by school level and are set separately from the yearly calendar
• The HISD testing calendar, which covers STAAR, TELPAS, MAP, SAT, ACT, and AP exam dates, is published as a separate document
• Individual campus graduation dates, which vary across HISD’s high schools
• Charter school calendars operating within Houston, which are not bound to HISD’s academic calendar
• Private school calendars in the Houston area, which set independent schedules
• Calendars for neighboring Houston-area districts such as Katy ISD, Cy-Fair ISD, Fort Bend ISD, or Aldine ISD, each of which publishes its own dates

Readers seeking any of these should consult HISD’s official testing calendar or the relevant campus or district directly, since none of them follow the same schedule outlined above.