26 days Chicago Public Schools families need a plan for
Chicago Public Schools (IL) has 26 weekdays in the 2026-27 school year when school is closed or lets out early, not counting federal holidays. That is about the same as the median of 26 across the 30 largest US districts. School runs from August 24, 2026 to June 11, 2027.
Plan your year
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Every day off, in order (26)
Fri, Sep 25: Professional development day
Mon, Nov 2: Parent-Teacher Conference Day (ES and HS)
Tue, Nov 3: General Election observed in lieu of Veterans Day
Wed, Nov 11: Professional development day
Mon, Nov 23: No students or teachers in school
Tue, Nov 24: No students or teachers in school
Wed, Nov 25: No students or teachers in school
Fri, Nov 27: Thanksgiving Holiday
Mon, Dec 21: Winter vacation
Tue, Dec 22: Winter vacation
Wed, Dec 23: Winter vacation
Thu, Dec 24: Winter vacation
Mon, Dec 28: Winter vacation
Tue, Dec 29: Winter vacation
Wed, Dec 30: Winter vacation
Thu, Dec 31: Winter vacation
Mon, Jan 4: Professional development day
Fri, Jan 29: Professional development day
Tue, Feb 23: Professional development day
Mon, Mar 22: Spring vacation
Tue, Mar 23: Spring vacation
Wed, Mar 24: Spring vacation
Thu, Mar 25: Spring vacation
Fri, Mar 26: Spring vacation
Tue, Apr 6: Professional development day
Mon, Apr 12: Parent-Teacher Conference Day (ES and HS)
Early release days
Chicago Public Schools publishes no district-wide early-release days. Some schools may still have their own.
How we counted, and where this comes from
We read the official Chicago Public Schools 2026-27 calendar on October 4, 2026: https://www.cps.edu/globalassets/cps-pages/calendar/26-27/cps-family-calendar-english-26-27.pdf. A day counts when school is closed for all students on a weekday, or the whole district lets students out early. Holidays that almost every employer observes (Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Memorial Day) are never counted. Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Veterans Day and Presidents’ Day count as holidays only when the district closes school for that holiday by name, because many employers stay open. That left 8 holidays out of the count here. The whole Thanksgiving week (Nov 23-27) is off, PreK starts a day later (Tue Aug 25) and ends Thu Jun 10, and Jun 15-17 and 21-22 become school days only if CPS falls below the state minimum of student days. Calendars change and some days vary by school, so check with your school before you book childcare.