DRAFT 2026-27 Major Dates Calendar

Please find here a link to our DRAFT Major Dates Calendar for the 2026-27 school year. 

Working on this calendar with our Senior Leadership Team, I am reminded that, along with daily schedules, another thing that has changed since 1985 is the annual school calendar, at least in Texas. School used to begin after Labor Day. Period. In the mid-1990s (think Ross Perot’s education reform role in Texas), we began developing standardized testing mechanisms to hold all schools accountable to the same standards. Some of this accountability and the raising of expectations, along with a logistics decision to balance the first and second semesters, led to calendar changes, including August start dates. 

While some parts of the country have stuck with summer breaks not ending until after Labor Day, those schools also often have a February and an April week off, leading to summer vacation starting well after Memorial Day. At FWCD, we have been committed to ending school before Memorial Day. In years like 2025-26, when Memorial Day is May 25, that commitment costs us some school days. On the other end of the year, we are impacted by our commitment to not start school before August 15. In 2025, the 15th was on a Friday. The timing of Memorial Day and August 15 created a perfect storm, reducing our school days below our target of 170. 

Looking at our 2026-27 major dates calendar, you will see that Memorial Day, on May 31, falls more favorably for maximizing our school days. As a result, we gain back some days. Our day count gets back above 170 after the challenges of the last two years, especially for Lower School, with its added days off for construction-related moves.