With the beginning of 2026, the second half of the school year began in New York. After the end of the long winter break, the City Education Department calendar (NYC DOE) scans a series of closures, suspensions of lessons and days with reduced hours accompanying students and families until the end of June. The dates cover more than one million students enrolled in public schools, from elementary to high school.
The return to the class was scheduled for January 5, immediately followed by a first closure on January 19 at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Regents exams are held between 20 and 25 January, compulsory standardized tests for high school students in New York: in those days many high schools adopt modified times, while smaller students continue to attend regularly. On January 26 it is a training day for staff: no lessons for high schools and schools 6-12, regular hours for all others.
The first prolonged stop of the year arrives in February, with the mid-winter recess from 16 to 20 February. This is a structural break in the New York school calendar, introduced to better distribute the periods of suspension of lessons during the year. In March, however, the calendar is marked mainly by school-family meetings: between 5 and 19 March there are several days of parent-teacher conferences for elementary, middle and upper, often accompanied by early exits of three hours for students. On March 20, schools remain closed for Eid al-Fitr, one of the Islamic religious festivals officially recognized by the city school system.
April concentrates the longest break of spring. From 2 to 10 April schools are closed for spring recess, the traditional spring break that interrupts classes for over a week. Here too it is a choice to align the school calendar to the main religious holidays and offer a break before the final part of the academic year.
In May the conferences with parents returned, distributed between 7 and 21 May depending on the school grade. On May 25, the schools remain closed for Memorial Day, while on May 27, there is another closure linked to the interreligious calendar: Eid al-Adha.
June marks the last stage of the school year, dominated by the exams. On June 4 is a day without lessons for students, dedicated to the professional development of school staff. From June 9th to 10th and from June 17th to 25th the Regents exams are held, with the exception of June 19th, when schools remain closed for Juneteenth, a federal holiday recently introduced in school calendars. The last day of class for all is set on 26 June, the date officially ending the school year 2025–26 in public schools in New York.
Article Among Catholic, Islamic and scheduled breaks, here is the New York school calendar from IlNew York.
