Houston ISD's 2026-27 year runs Monday, August 10, 2026 to Friday, May 28, 2027, with a week off at Thanksgiving, the last two weeks of December, and a week in March. The days that catch parents out are the single ones: six "Staff PD Day (no classes)" dates that land on Mondays and Fridays, a lone Friday recess on March 26 that the calendar does not explain, and the first Tuesday back in January, because January 4 is a staff day rather than a school day.
Below is the district's yearly calendar as published, every dated entry including the six grading cycles with their report-card days and the 5th Quarter dates that run after the last day for students — then how to get it onto your phone next to the team schedules.
Source: HISD Yearly Calendar 2026-2027 (PDF) and houstonisd.org District Calendar. Last checked November 6, 2026. The yearly calendar is stamped "Updated 4/6/2026" and covers the student year plus the 5th Quarter dates that follow it; it prints no early-release days and no bad-weather make-up days.
Every date below is copied from the district's own published calendar, not estimated. Districts do revise mid-year, so confirm against the source before you book anything around a date.
42 published entries, 14 of them closures or breaks. A single entry can cover a span of days. Labels are the district's wording.
| Date | What the district calls it |
|---|---|
| Jul 20–29, 2026 | School Leaders' Induction and Preparation |
| Jul 30–31, 2026 | All Staff Induction and Preparation |
| Aug 3–7, 2026 | All Staff Induction and Preparation |
| Mon, Aug 10, 2026 | First Day for Students (grading cycle 1 begins)First / last day |
| Mon, Sep 7, 2026 | Labor Day — Holiday (no classes)No school |
| Fri, Sep 18, 2026 | Grading cycle 1 ends (Aug. 10 – Sep. 18) |
| Mon, Sep 21, 2026 | Staff PD Day (no classes)No school |
| Tue, Sep 22, 2026 | Grading cycle 2 begins (Sep. 22 – Oct. 30) |
| Fri, Sep 25, 2026 | Report card (Friday), cycle 1 |
| Fri, Oct 9, 2026 | Staff PD Day (no classes)No school |
| Fri, Oct 30, 2026 | Grading cycle 2 ends |
| Mon, Nov 2, 2026 | Grading cycle 3 begins (Nov. 2 – Dec. 18) |
| Fri, Nov 6, 2026 | Staff PD Day (no classes); Report card (Friday), cycle 2No school |
| Nov 23–27, 2026 | Recess (no classes); Thursday, November 26 is Thanksgiving DayNo school |
| Fri, Dec 18, 2026 | Grading cycle 3 ends |
| Dec 21–31, 2026 | Recess (no classes)No school |
| Fri, Jan 1, 2027 | New Year's Day — Holiday (no classes)No school |
| Mon, Jan 4, 2027 | Staff PD Day (no classes)No school |
| Tue, Jan 5, 2027 | Grading cycle 4 begins (Jan. 5 – Feb. 19) |
| Fri, Jan 8, 2027 | Report card (Friday), cycle 3 |
| Mon, Jan 18, 2027 | MLK Jr. Day — Holiday (no classes)No school |
| Mon, Feb 15, 2027 | Staff PD Day (no classes)No school |
| Fri, Feb 19, 2027 | Grading cycle 4 ends |
| Mon, Feb 22, 2027 | Grading cycle 5 begins (Feb. 22 – Apr. 15) |
| Fri, Feb 26, 2027 | Report card (Friday), cycle 4 |
| Mar 8–12, 2027 | Recess (no classes)No school |
| Fri, Mar 26, 2027 | Recess (no classes)No school |
| Thu, Apr 15, 2027 | Grading cycle 5 ends |
| Fri, Apr 16, 2027 | Staff PD Day (no classes)No school |
| Mon, Apr 19, 2027 | Grading cycle 6 begins (Apr. 19 – May 28) |
| Fri, Apr 23, 2027 | Report card (Friday), cycle 5 |
| Fri, May 28, 2027 | Last Day for Students; grading cycle 6 endsFirst / last day |
| Mon, May 31, 2027 | Memorial Day — Holiday (no classes)No school |
| Tue, Jun 1, 2027 | Staff PD Day (no classes); Last Day for Teachers |
| Wed, Jun 2, 2027 | Report card (Wednesday), cycle 6 |
| Mon, Jun 7, 2027 | 5th Quarter Staff PD Day |
| Jun 8–30, 2027 | 5th Quarter |
| Fri, Jun 18, 2027 | Juneteenth — Holiday (no classes) |
| Jul 1–15, 2027 | 5th Quarter |
| Fri, Jul 2, 2027 | Recess (no classes) |
| Mon, Jul 5, 2027 | Independence Day observed — Holiday (no classes) |
| Fri, Jul 16, 2027 | 5th Quarter Staff PD Day |
Six of them fall inside the school year: Monday, September 21, Friday, October 9, Friday, November 6, Monday, January 4, Monday, February 15 and Friday, April 16. Each is listed as "Staff PD Day (no classes)". A seventh, Tuesday, June 1, comes after the last day for students and doubles as the "Last Day for Teachers". Two of them, November 6 and January 4, sit right beside a report card or a recess, so they turn an ordinary week into a short one.
Thanksgiving: "Recess (no classes)" November 23–27, with Thursday, November 26 marked Thanksgiving Day. Winter: recess December 21–31, then New Year's Day on Friday, January 1 and a Staff PD Day on Monday, January 4, so students return Tuesday, January 5. Spring: recess March 8–12. Friday, March 26 is a single "Recess (no classes)" day; the calendar does not name the occasion, so this page does not either.
The calendar tabulates the cycles as Aug. 10 – Sep. 18, Sep. 22 – Oct. 30, Nov. 2 – Dec. 18, Jan. 5 – Feb. 19, Feb. 22 – Apr. 15 and Apr. 19 – May 28, with report cards on September 25, November 6, January 8, February 26 and April 23 (all Fridays) and June 2 (a Wednesday, after the year ends). Cycles 2, 4 and 6 each begin on the first school day after a Staff PD Day.
June 1 is the Last Day for Teachers. Then come the "5th Quarter" dates: a 5th Quarter Staff PD Day on June 7, 5th Quarter June 8–30 and July 1–15, and a closing 5th Quarter Staff PD Day on July 16, with Juneteenth (June 18), a recess on July 2 and Independence Day observed (July 5) as no-class days inside that span. The calendar does not say who attends the 5th Quarter; ask your campus.
The legend has no early-dismissal category and the list names no bad-weather make-up days, so this page has none to show you. The document's only revision marker is "Updated 4/6/2026", and the district page labels it simply "Academic Calendar (English)". Campus-level schedules can add their own early-release or testing days; check with your school.
The quick way: create a free Schedule Caddie account from this page and the 2026-27 calendar above is already on it as your own schedule — the version we verified on November 6, 2026, yours to edit. If Houston ISD revises the calendar later, upload the new version and you see exactly which days changed before approving them.
Doing it yourself, or a different district:
The district publishes this calendar as a document, not a feed you can subscribe to. Schedule Caddie reads that document for you: download the 2026-27 calendar from the district (the source link above), upload it as a PDF, PNG, or JPG up to 10MB, and it pulls out the no-school days, breaks, early releases with their dismissal times, teacher days, and the first and last day of school.
Nothing is saved until you have looked at it. Every day it found shows up as its own row with the date and label, you uncheck what you don't want and fix anything it misread, and only then does it land on your family calendar, color-coded as School so a holiday Monday reads differently from a 4pm practice. Team schedules you have added as calendar links keep refreshing on their own; the school year sits beside them.
Either way it travels like anything else on your Schedule Caddie calendar: subscribe to your Schedule Caddie link in Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or Outlook and the school days come along.
Add it to my calendarFree account. How the upload and review step work, in detail: school calendars on Schedule Caddie.
The First Day for Students is Monday, August 10, 2026. The Last Day for Students is Friday, May 28, 2027, and the Last Day for Teachers is Tuesday, June 1, 2027. Memorial Day, Monday, May 31, falls between the two.
Thanksgiving recess is Monday, November 23 through Friday, November 27, 2026. Winter recess is December 21–31, 2026, followed by New Year's Day on January 1 and a Staff PD Day on January 4, so classes resume Tuesday, January 5, 2027. Spring recess is Monday, March 8 through Friday, March 12, 2027, and Friday, March 26 is a separate one-day recess.
September 21, October 9 and November 6, 2026, and January 4, February 15 and April 16, 2027 are each listed as "Staff PD Day (no classes)". June 1, 2027 is a further Staff PD Day after the last day for students, and June 7 and July 16 are 5th Quarter Staff PD Days.
September 25, November 6, January 8, February 26 and April 23, each a Friday, and June 2, 2027, a Wednesday. Each follows the end of a grading cycle: September 18, October 30, December 18, February 19, April 15 and May 28.
Every kid, every schedule, every app — merged, color-coded, and watched for changes.
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Houston Independent School District, Texas. Schedule Caddie is not affiliated with the district; the calendar above is reproduced from its public website for convenience.
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