Duval County Winter Break 2026: Dates and Return Day
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Duval County winter break 2026 runs from Monday, December 21, 2026 through Tuesday, January 5, 2027 for students. The last day of class is Friday, December 18, which is also the end of the second grading period. Students return Wednesday, January 6, 2027. All dates come from the official DCPS academic calendar.
That's 18 straight days off, counting weekends. Eighteen days is enough time to build a Lego set, lose a piece of it, and grieve.
How the break actually stacks up
- Friday, December 18: last day of class and end of the grading period
- December 21-23: schools closed
- December 24 - January 1: schools and admin offices closed
- January 4: employee planning day, students off
- January 5: professional development day, students off
- Wednesday, January 6: students return
The January 4-5 staff days are the part families miss. Plenty of people assume school restarts the first Monday of January. It doesn't. Book the flight home for the 5th and enjoy two bonus days of everyone being slightly too rested.
What to handle before December 18
Report period two closes the same day break starts, so any missing assignments need to land before the 18th. Teachers grade over break the way the rest of us exercise over break, which is to say check the parent portal in early January rather than refreshing it on the 26th.
Admin offices close December 24 through January 1, so enrollment paperwork, records requests, and transfer questions should go in early too.
Quick win
Put "students return January 6" in your phone right now with an alert on January 4. That one notification saves you from being the family idling outside a locked school on a Monday morning. There's always one. We've seen the car.
The full year's dates live in our Duval County school calendar 2026-27 guide. And if the backpack situation didn't survive the fall semester, our Jacksonville school gear guide covers pouches and stickers for the January restock. Verify dates at duvalschools.org before making travel plans, since the district can revise the calendar.