CPS Calendar 2026-2027: CPS Public Schools Calendar Dates

The CPS calendar 2026-2027 governs instructional days, holidays, and staff workdays for every Chicago Public Schools student and employee from August 2026 through June 2027.

The Chicago Board of Education adopted this calendar, along with the 2027-2028 calendar, on Thursday, February 26, 2026, following input from district staff, parents, students, labor partners, and community members.

This guide covers every date on the official CPS staff and family calendars, cross-referenced against Illinois state law and Board of Education records, plus district events that intersect with the academic year.

What Is the CPS Calendar 2026-2027?

The CPS calendar 2026-2027 is the Board-approved academic schedule for Chicago Public Schools covering the school year that begins in August 2026 and ends in June 2027.

The CPS 2026-2027 school year runs from Monday, August 24, 2026, to Friday, June 11, 2027, for K-12 students, totaling 176 attendance days across four quarters.

Pre-kindergarten students follow a slightly offset schedule, starting Tuesday, August 25, 2026, and ending Thursday, June 10, 2027.

Both the staff calendar and the family calendar reflect identical instructional dates; they differ only in the level of administrative detail shown (covered later in this guide).

Illinois law sets the floor for this schedule: under 105 ILCS 5/10-19, public schools must provide at least 176 days of pupil attendance each academic year. CPS’s calendar meets this floor exactly, at 176 attendance days.

CPS Calendar 2026-2027 at a Glance

The table below summarizes every major CPS 2026-2027 calendar milestone in one reference.

First Day and Last Day of School: CPS Calendar 2026-2027

First Day of School for K-12 Students

The first day of school for K-12 students in the CPS calendar 2026-2027 is Monday, August 24, 2026. This date applies uniformly to elementary and high school students districtwide.

According to Chicago Public Schools’ official adoption announcement, this start date falls about one week later than the first day of the 2025-2026 school year.

First Day of School for Pre-K Students

The first day of school for pre-kindergarten students is Tuesday, August 25, 2026, one day after the K-12 start date. This one-day offset is standard practice on CPS calendars and repeats for both the last day of school and the 2027-2028 calendar, where pre-kindergarten classes are scheduled to begin on August 24, 2027, one day after the August 23, 2027, K-12 start date.

Last Day of School and Fourth Quarter End Date

The last day of school for K-12 students is Friday, June 11, 2027, which is also the end date of Quarter 4. Pre-K students finish one day earlier, on Thursday, June 10, 2027.

Both dates are full instructional days; no half-days are scheduled for either date on the official calendar.

Staff Start Dates in the CPS Calendar 2026-2027

Not every employee group reports on the same date. The CPS calendar 2026-2027 staggers staff start dates by role:

• School clerks begin on Wednesday, August 12, 2026.
• Teachers and Chicago Teachers Union (CTU)-represented Paraprofessionals and School-Related Personnel (PSRPs) begin Monday, August 17, 2026.
• Other school-based employees begin between Wednesday, August 12, 2026, and Monday, August 17, 2026.

CPS Calendar 2026-2027 Quarter Dates, Report Cards, and Parent-Teacher Conferences

CPS Calendar 2026-2027 Quarter End Dates

The CPS calendar 2026-2027 divides the school year into four quarters, ending on Friday, October 23, 2026; Friday, January 22, 2027; Friday, April 2, 2027; and Friday, June 11, 2027.

Every quarter ends on a Friday. The second quarter break is notable: it spans winter recess, meaning the second academic quarter ends after winter break, on January 22, 2027, rather than before the holiday, a scheduling choice explained further below.

Instructional Days and Weeks Per Quarter

Progress Report Distribution Dates

Progress reports go home four times per year, once per quarter, on dates set independently of report cards. Quarter 1 progress reports go home on Thursday, September 24, 2026; Quarter 2 on Friday, December 11, 2026; Quarter 3 on Friday, February 26, 2027; and Quarter 4 on Thursday, May 6, 2027.

Parent-Teacher Conference Days (Non-Attendance Days)

Parent-teacher conference days are non-attendance days for students at elementary and high schools. The CPS calendar 2026-2027 schedules two such days: Monday, November 2, 2026, and Monday, April 12, 2027.

Parents pick up report cards and meet with teachers on these dates, which fall after the first and third quarters, respectively.

Report Card Distribution Dates

Report cards for Quarter 2 and Quarter 4 are sent home rather than distributed at a conference. Quarter 2 report cards go home Thursday, January 28, 2027. Quarter 4 report cards go home Friday, June 11, 2027, coinciding with the last day of school.

CPS Holidays 2026-2027: Full List With Dates

CPS observes eight holidays during the 2026-2027 school year, listed with their calendar entity below.

The November 3, 2026, holiday coincides with a congressional midterm election, which is why the calendar labels it “General Election observed in lieu of Veterans Day” rather than Veterans Day itself.

July 5, 2027, is a district-office holiday only — schools are not in session at that point regardless, since the anticipated summer program window begins the following day.

School Breaks in the CPS Calendar 2026-2027

CPS schedules three multi-day breaks during the 2026-2027 school year, in addition to single-day holidays.

CPS Winter Break

Winter break runs from Monday, December 21, 2026, through Friday, January 1, 2027. Students and teachers are off for the entire span.

CPS district offices close for a shorter window within that break — Friday, December 25, 2026, through Friday, January 1, 2027 — since offices remain open December 21–24 while schools are already closed for students.

CPS Spring Break 2027

CPS Spring break runs from Monday, March 22, 2027, through Friday, March 26, 2027, a five-day school closure with no split days.

CPS Thanksgiving Break

Thanksgiving break centers on Thursday, November 26, 2027, and Friday, November 27, 2026, the two official holiday dates.

Many CPS-affiliated event calendars and community postings describe the full week — Monday, November 23, through Friday, November 27, 2026 — as a Thanksgiving closure window, since several schools schedule non-attendance activities earlier in that week; the two dates marked as official district holidays on the Board-approved calendar, however, are specifically November 26 and 27.

Professional Development (Institute) Days: CPS Calendar 2026-2027

CPS allocates 12 professional development (PD) days per school for the 2026-2027 year — 6 principal-directed and 6 teacher-directed. These days are marked as no-school days for students.

Press coverage of the Board’s approval describes this same allocation using different terminology: four Teacher Institute Days, four school improvement days, four professional development days, and two parent-teacher conference days, which total 14 non-attendance days for students — matching the 12 PD days plus 2 parent-teacher conference days on the official calendar.

Teacher-Directed vs. Principal-Directed PD Days

Elementary schools (ES) and high schools (HS) split their 12 PD days differently between teacher-directed and principal-directed use, which is not obvious from the calendar grid alone.

High schools shift three teacher-directed days (August 17, January 29, and April 6) to principal-directed status compared to elementary schools, while keeping the same overall 12-day total.

Flex PD Voting-Eligible Days

Not all PD days are fixed. Several are eligible for a school-level vote under CPS’s Flex PD option, allowing schools to reschedule them within the year. The flex-eligible days are August 17, August 18, August 19, January 4, February 23, and April 6.

Of these, August 19, November 11, and February 23 additionally carry no district-mandated training requirement for teachers, giving individual schools discretion over their use.

CPS Staff Calendar vs. Family Calendar: Key Differences

CPS publishes two versions of the same academic calendar — a staff calendar and a family calendar — and they are not interchangeable in the level of detail they contain.

The family calendar’s Spanish-language edition is titled Calendario Familiar de Escuelas CPS 2026–2027 and translates all core dates, holiday names, and legend symbols, including Cuatrimestre for “Quarter” and Día festivo for “Holiday.”

Graduation Dates and Summer Programs

Graduation Ceremony Windows

CPS sets earliest-allowable dates for graduation ceremonies rather than fixed dates, since individual schools schedule their own ceremonies within the window. High school graduation ceremonies cannot be held before Friday, May 28, 2027.

Elementary graduation ceremonies cannot be held before Monday, June 7, 2027 — four days after the high school window opens and four days before the last day of school.

Anticipated 2027 Summer Programs

CPS anticipates five categories of summer programming for 2027: Summer Bridge (including Bilingual Bridge), English Language Summer Support, Extended School Year, Summer Acceleration, and High School Summer Credit Recovery.

The earliest anticipated start date is Tuesday, July 6, 2027, with programming potentially extending into August 2027. This window does not apply to the regular K-12 or Pre-K calendar; it is a separate, program-specific schedule.

How and When the CPS Calendar 2026-2027 Was Approved

Timeline From Draft to Board Approval

The CPS calendar 2026-2027 did not pass on its first presentation to the Board. District officials initially unveiled draft 2026-27 and 2027-28 calendars and presented them at a Board meeting, then withdrew them in late January 2026 after board members questioned whether the first semester should end before winter break rather than after it.

The Board formally adopted the revised calendars on Thursday, February 26, 2026.

The official staff calendar PDF carries a “Last Update” date of March 18, 2026; the family calendar PDF is dated March 5, 2026 — both several weeks after Board approval, reflecting final formatting and translation passes rather than a change in the approved dates.

Why the School Year Starts in Late August

CPS’s 2026-2027 start date of Monday, August 24, 2026, and the semester structure that follows it are direct results of the Labor Day calendar.

District officials stated that because Labor Day falls late in both 2026 and 2027, ending the first semester before winter break would not leave high school students enough time to complete required coursework.

As a result, the first semester runs through winter break, with Quarter 2 ending January 22, 2027, rather than in December.

A district survey informing this decision drew roughly 22,000 respondents, a majority of whom preferred ending the semester after the break.

A separate survey found only 10% of respondents wanted the school year to start more than two weeks before Labor Day, which ruled out an earlier August start as an alternative fix.

Despite the late-August start, 2026-2027 marks the sixth consecutive year CPS has begun classes before Labor Day.

CPS Calendar 2026-2027 vs. 2027-2028: What Changes Next Year

The Board adopted both calendars in the same February 26, 2026, action, allowing a direct year-over-year comparison.

Both calendars maintain the same 176-day attendance total and the same 14-day non-attendance allocation. Nicole Milberg, CPS’s Chief of Teaching and Learning, said the calendar incorporates community feedback while keeping students at the center of the design.

Downloading and Using the Official CPS Calendar 2026-2027

Where to Find the Official PDF

The official CPS calendar 2026-2027 is published directly by Chicago Public Schools as separate staff and family PDF documents, distributed through individual schools and the district’s official communications channels.

The family version is also available in a Spanish-language edition. Neither document requires a login to view once distributed; check with your individual school for the most current copy, since printed distributions can lag behind revisions.

Adding CPS Dates to Google Calendar, Outlook, or Apple Calendar

Follow these steps to move CPS calendar 2026-2027 dates into a personal digital calendar:

1. Note the four category types on the official PDF legend: holidays (*), end-of-quarter dates (Q), non-attendance days (⧫), and parent-teacher conference days (PT).
2. Enter each holiday and break as a multi-day, all-day event rather than a single-day event where the source spans more than one date (for example, winter break as December 21, 2026, through January 1, 2027).
3. Enter PD days individually rather than as a range, since they are non-consecutive across the year.
4. Set a recurring reminder near each quarter-end date to check for the corresponding progress-report or report-card distribution date, since those are not the same date as the quarter end.
5. Cross-check Pre-K-specific dates separately from K-12 dates before entering them, since the two start and end on different days.

CPS Board Meetings and District Events During the 2026-2027 School Year

The CPS calendar 2026-2027 covers instructional dates only. A separate set of governance and community events runs alongside it.

Board of Education Meeting Schedule

The Chicago Board of Education holds an Agenda Review Committee meeting on the second Wednesday of most months and a full Board meeting on the fourth Thursday of most months, both from 10:30 AM to 3:30 PM and livestreamed on the district’s YouTube channel.

Confirmed dates include the Agenda Review Committee meeting on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, the July Board meeting on Thursday, July 30, 2026, and the August Board meeting on Thursday, August 27, 2026. Members of the public may register to speak during the public participation portion of any meeting through the Board’s website, cpsboe.org.

Special Education Parent Resources and Child Find Screenings

CPS’s Office for Students with Disabilities runs monthly, free developmental screenings at three Chicago Public Library branches on a recurring rotation: Austin-Irving Branch Library, Sulzer Regional Library, and West Belmont Library.

Screenings are first-come, first-served, require no appointment, and assess cognitive, communication, social-emotional, and motor skills, plus hearing and vision.

They target children not currently enrolled in a CPS special education program, Head Start, or Preschool For All, and are not for children already receiving special education or Early Intervention services who are already identified.

Families can reach the CPS Child Find Coordinator at 773-251-4855 or cpschildfind@cps.edu. The office separately runs a “Your Child, Your Voice” summer workshop series, including sessions such as “Know Your Rights, Lead with Confidence” on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, and “Ready, Set, School: Preparing for a Strong Start” on Thursday, August 13, 2026.

Local School Council (LSC) Training and Elections

Local School Councils run mandatory member trainings covering Code of Ethics, Officer duties, Budget responsibilities, and Internal Accounts, offered in both English and Spanish.

Sessions in July 2026 included Code of Ethics training on Tuesday, July 21, 2026; Officer training on Thursday, July 23, 2026; Budget training on Tuesday, July 28, 2026; and Internal Accounts training on Thursday, July 30, 2026. These trainings recur around LSC election cycles rather than every single school year.

Frequently Asked Questions About the CPS Calendar 2026-2027

What the CPS Calendar 2026-2027 Does Not Cover

The CPS calendar 2026-2027 does not set individual school bell times, lunch periods, or after-school program schedules; those are set at the school level.

It does not apply to charter schools, contract schools, or non-CPS private schools operating within Chicago, which may follow different calendars.

It does not include make-up day placement in advance; emergency days are built into the calendar structure but only activated if student attendance falls below the state-required minimum due to closures.

It does not cover CPS’s fiscal-year budget calendar, which runs on a separate July-to-June fiscal year cycle and is governed by a distinct public hearing schedule, including FY2027 Capital Budget Hearings held in July 2026.

It also does not extend to summer program bell schedules, which are set separately once each program’s enrollment is finalized closer to July 2027.

Related CPS Resources

Families researching the CPS calendar 2026-2027 typically need several adjacent resources: the CPS enrollment and registration portal, the transportation eligibility and bus route lookup, individual school attendance and grading policies, and the Office for Students with Disabilities’ Parent University workshop schedule.

Each of these operates on its own timeline distinct from the academic calendar covered above, though several — like Child Find screenings and parent-teacher conference days — intersect with it directly.