Holyoke Public Schools has finalized the 2026-27 annual calendar, and it is now available for viewing on the district website.
Some important things to keep in mind about the annual calendar:
The first day of school for students in grades 1-12 is Monday, August 24, 2026.
The first day of school for students in PreK and kindergarten is Wednesday, August 26, 2026.
All HPS schools will be in session for students on January 4 and 5, 2027, and closed on January 6 for the Three Kings Day holiday.
The calendar includes seven 3-hour early release days for students, including October 7, November 18, December 9, December 23, March 10, May 12, as well as on the last day of school. Of these days, two are family conference days (November 18 and March 10).
The last day of school for students will be Thursday, June 10, 2027 if there are no snow days, and Thursday, June 17, 2027 if the district uses a total of five snow days during the course of the school year.
A few changes to school start and end times:
Next year’s schedule for all schools is posted on the district website.
The length of all elementary school days will be reduced by 15 minutes, for a total of 6 hours and 30 minutes. Doors at McMahon will open at 7:45 a.m., with an 8 a.m. school start and 2:30 p.m. dismissal. Doors for all other elementary schools will open at 8:45 a.m., with a 9:00 a.m. start time and 3:30 p.m. dismissal time. The elementary school start and end times were modified to be one-hour apart , which allows HPS to share buses across schools and avoid additional transportation costs.
HPS will discontinue the practice of one-hour early release days on Wednesdays. Early-start schools will end their days at 2:30 p.m. and late-start schools will end their days at 3:30 p.m. on all days—EXCEPT for the seven 3- hour early release days noted in the calendar.
The start and end times for half-day PreK programs will also be adjusted, with both the morning and afternoon sessions running for 2 hours and 30 minutes each.