Mercer County Public Schools Calendar 2026-27

The MCPS 2026-27 calendar

This is the district's own calendar, as MCPS publishes it. Tap a page to open the full-size image.

Add the MCPS calendar to your phone

Pick a file. Each one is an all-day event per day off, and a break is one event across all its days.

On an iPhone

Tap a file above, then tap Add All. The dates go into the calendar you choose.

In Google Calendar

On a computer, open Google Calendar, then Settings, then Import & export. Choose the file and the calendar to add it to. The dates show up on your Android phone too.

In Outlook

Open the downloaded file, or in Outlook on the web go to Add calendar, then Upload from file.

These files are a copy of the calendar today. If the district changes a date, download the file again.

MCPS vacations and holidays, 2026-27

Every day with no school for students, from the first day to the last: 19 entries and 33 weekdays in all.

MCPS early release days

The district calendar lists no early release days. Every school day on it is a full day.

Schools can still send their own early dismissal notices, so watch for those.

Calendar notes: what to plan around

Long weekends and breaks

Every stretch of three or more days with no school, counting weekends.

• 3-day weekend: Saturday, Sept. 5 to Monday, Sept. 7. Labor Day. Back Tuesday, Sept. 8.
• 3-day weekend: Saturday, Oct. 10 to Monday, Oct. 12. Faculty Senate day (no students). Back Tuesday, Oct. 13.
• 9 days off in a row: Saturday, Nov. 21 to Sunday, Nov. 29. Thanksgiving break. Back Monday, Nov. 30.
• 13 days off in a row: Wednesday, Dec. 23 to Monday, Jan. 4. Faculty Senate day (no students), winter break and Curriculum development day (no students). Back Tuesday, Jan. 5.
• 3-day weekend: Saturday, Jan. 16 to Monday, Jan. 18. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Back Tuesday, Jan. 19.
• 3-day weekend: Friday, Feb. 12 to Sunday, Feb. 14. Faculty Senate day (no students). Back Monday, Feb. 15.
• 3-day weekend: Friday, March 19 to Sunday, March 21. OS Day (possible snow make-up day). Back Monday, March 22.
• 10 days off in a row: Friday, March 26 to Sunday, April 4. OS Day (possible snow make-up day) and spring break. Back Monday, April 5.
• 3-day weekend: Friday, April 9 to Sunday, April 11. OS Day (possible snow make-up day). Back Monday, April 12.
• 4-day weekend: Friday, April 16 to Monday, April 19. OS Day (possible snow make-up day) and Faculty Senate day (no students). Back Tuesday, April 20.
• 3-day weekend: Friday, April 23 to Sunday, April 25. OS Day (possible snow make-up day). Back Monday, April 26.
• 3-day weekend: Friday, April 30 to Sunday, May 2. OS Day (possible snow make-up day). Back Monday, May 3.
• 3-day weekend: Saturday, May 29 to Monday, May 31. Memorial Day. Back Tuesday, June 1.

Weeks with fewer than five school days

Seventeen weeks have fewer than five school days, and three weeks have none at all.

Teacher workdays: no school for students

Five of the days off are staff days. Teachers work; students stay home. Plan child care as you would for a holiday.

• Monday, Oct. 12: Faculty Senate day (no students)
• Wednesday, Dec. 23: Faculty Senate day (no students)
• Monday, Jan. 4: Curriculum development day (no students)
• Friday, Feb. 12: Faculty Senate day (no students)
• Monday, April 19: Faculty Senate day (no students)

Makeup days

OS Day - Built-In Snow Make-up Day, Friday, March 19 (No school unless the district needs it to make up a weather closure), OS Day - Built in Snow Make-Up Day, Friday, March 26 (No school unless the district needs it to make up a weather closure), OS Day - Built in snow make-up day, Friday, April 9 (No school unless the district needs it to make up a weather closure), OS Day - Built in snow make-up day, Friday, April 16 (No school unless the district needs it to make up a weather closure), OS Day - Built in snow make-up day, Friday, April 23 (No school unless the district needs it to make up a weather closure) and OS Day - Built in snow make-up day, Friday, April 30 (No school unless the district needs it to make up a weather closure).

Also worth knowing

• School is open on a federal holiday: Washington's Birthday (Presidents' Day) (Monday, Feb. 15). Banks, post offices and many offices close; school does not.
• The district calendar lists no parent-teacher conference days.
• Some days off may change: OS Day (possible snow make-up day), March 19 (Built-in snow make-up day: if weather closures happen, the district may make it a regular school day, in date order), OS Day (possible snow make-up day), March 26 (Built-in snow make-up day: if weather closures happen, the district may make it a regular school day, in date order), spring break, March 29 to April 2 (Spring break may be shortened to make up snow days once the OS days are used), OS Day (possible snow make-up day), April 9 (Built-in snow make-up day: if weather closures happen, the district may make it a regular school day, in date order), OS Day (possible snow make-up day), April 16 (Built-in snow make-up day: if weather closures happen, the district may make it a regular school day, in date order), OS Day (possible snow make-up day), April 23 (Built-in snow make-up day: if weather closures happen, the district may make it a regular school day, in date order) and OS Day (possible snow make-up day), April 30 (Built-in snow make-up day: if weather closures happen, the district may make it a regular school day, in date order).
• After the last day, the calendar still shows teacher days after the last day (June 8). Students are already out.

First and last day of school

The first day of school is Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. The last day is Monday, June 7, 2027.

Teachers start sooner. Staff days before school run Aug. 17 to 19.

Grading periods

MCPS grades in nine-week periods; the 1st semester ends with the 2nd nine weeks on Jan. 14. The calendar also marks "End of 4.5 Weeks" (the middle of each nine weeks) on Sept. 22, Dec. 3, Feb. 17 and May 6.

What the district notes

• West Virginia is changing how it measures the school year. This 2026-27 calendar runs under the current rule: at least 180 separate instructional days or an equivalent amount of instructional time (W. Va. Code §18-5-45). Senate Bill 890, signed April 1, 2026, rewrites that law so that from July 1, 2027, the school year is at least 900 instructional hours instead. That makes 2027-28 the first school year counted in hours, not days. Each county sets how long its school days are, and they may vary, to reach the 900 hours. What it means for you: the school days on this page are the district's plan for 2026-27. From 2027-28, a school year may have fewer or different school days than you are used to, because the law counts hours.
• OS Day (Outside School Environment): no school. Built-in snow make-up day: if weather closures happen, the district may make it a regular school day, in date order. This year's OS Days are the Fridays of March 19 and 26 and April 9, 16, 23 and 30.
• Spring break, March 29 to April 2, may be shortened to make up snow days once the OS Days are used. The calendar says these days "may be taken to make-up snow days."
• This calendar schedules 175 days for students. It also has five days during the year when teachers work and students stay home: Oct. 12, Dec. 23, Jan. 4, Feb. 12 and April 19.
• Pre-K students start on Wednesday, Aug. 26. High school graduations are Friday, June 4.

How we checked these dates

We read every date off the district's own calendar twice: once from the PDF's text and once from the image, cell by cell against its legend. Then we checked each one against the district's online Student Calendar, the MCPS 2025-2026 Student Calendar (for what an OS Day is), West Virginia Code §18-5-45 (for the note on the state school-year law), the Senate Bill 890 bill status page (for the same note), Senate Bill 890 of 2026 as passed (for the same note) and the MCPS Parent Resources page.

Every weekday on this page matches its date. If the district changes its calendar, its page is the final word.