Back in January of this year (can you believe that was already five months ago and it’s already June?!) the possibility of NYC public school students getting a longer winter break than usual floated around. And now every kid’s dream–less school and more vacation–is officially coming true!
The 2025-26 NYC public school calendar features a short week on the tail end of the holiday season–schools are off from Wednesday, December 24th through Thursday, January 1st. This would mean that schools would reopen on Friday, January 2nd, and staff and students would have to go in for a one-day school week.
The DOE school calendar had the same thing last holiday season, when students were expected to head to school on Monday, December 23rd, 2024 before break began, making for a one-day school week. To combat this, Mayor Adams deemed December 23rd a day off to give staff, students, and their families an extra day to spend together during the winter recess, and it looks like this is happening again!
NYC Public Schools recently released an updated 2025-26 school calendar, and it lists winter recess as Wednesday, December 24th through Friday, January 2nd. The United Federation of Teachers reportedly texted members, “We got it done! Friday, Jan. 2, is now part of winter break,” when announcing the news.
Of course the holiday season is still a ways away, and students likely only have one thing on their minds right now: summer recess–here’s when schools let out for that, by the way. To hold students over until that day arrives, there are still some upcoming days off to look forward to: this Thursday, June 5th for Eid al-Adha and Thursday, June 19th for Juneteenth.