January 2027 School Holidays: MLK Day, Jan. 4 Staff Days and Days Off in 36 Districts

All 36 U.S. school districts we checked close for students on Monday, Jan. 18, 2027, Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Day, and 22 of them also keep students home on Monday, Jan. 4, according to each district’s official 2026-27 calendar. Only six calendars print a first day back after winter break; the rest list the break and the days off, so the table below says “Not printed” rather than guess.

January 2027 school days off by district

Each row comes from the district’s own published calendar, checked as of Nov. 4, 2026, and links to our story on that district’s full year. Calendars can be amended, so check your school’s before you book travel. Katy Independent School District (ISD) and the other Texas districts are named in full.

District	Winter break ends	First day back (printed)	Jan. 18	Other January days listed
Anne Arundel County, Md.	Jan. 1 (New Year’s Day)	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 19 teacher workday; Jan. 20 semester break
Austin Independent School District, Texas	Jan. 4	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 4 staff development, student holiday
Baltimore County, Md.	Jan. 1	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 15 early dismissal (3 hours); Jan. 19 professional development day
Broward County, Fla.	Jan. 1	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 4 employee planning, no school for students
Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C.	Jan. 1	Not printed	Closed (also a listed weather make-up day)	Jan. 22 teacher workdays
Chicago, Ill.	Jan. 1	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 4 and Jan. 29 professional development days, no school for students
Clark County, Nev.	Jan. 1	Tue., Jan. 5	Closed	Jan. 4 staff development day, no school for students
Cobb County, Ga.	Jan. 4	Not printed	Closed	Break runs through Jan. 4 (holiday break and staff workdays)
Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District, Texas	Jan. 1	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 4 professional day
Dallas Independent School District, Texas	Jan. 4	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 5 professional development day, student status not stated
DeKalb County, Ga.	Jan. 1	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 4 post/pre-planning day, students do not report
Denver, Colo.	Jan. 1	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 4 planning day
District of Columbia Public Schools	Jan. 1	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 26 half-day records and professional development, no school for students
Fairfax County, Va.	Jan. 3	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 28 two-hour early release; Jan. 29 teacher workday, student holiday
Fort Worth Independent School District, Texas	Jan. 1	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 4 staff day, no students
Fulton County, Ga.	Jan. 1	Tue., Jan. 5	Closed	Jan. 4 teacher workday, student holiday
Gwinnett County, Ga.	Jan. 1	Tue., Jan. 5	Closed	Jan. 4 teacher planning, student holiday
Hawaii public schools	Jan. 1	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 4 teacher workday, no students
Houston Independent School District, Texas	Jan. 1 (New Year’s Day)	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 4 staff professional development, no classes
Jefferson County, Ky. (Louisville)	Jan. 1	Not printed	Closed	None listed
Katy Independent School District, Texas	Jan. 1	Tue., Jan. 5	Closed	Jan. 4 campus day, no students
Lee County, Fla.	Jan. 1	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 4 professional duty day (remote)
Los Angeles Unified, Calif.	Fri., Jan. 8	Mon., Jan. 11	Closed	Jan. 11 second semester begins
Memphis-Shelby County, Tenn.	Jan. 4 (students out)	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 1-4 winter break, students out
Metro Nashville, Tenn.	Jan. 1 (New Year’s Day, district closed)	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 4 stockpiled professional development day, students do not report
Montgomery County, Md.	Not printed	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 25 grading and planning, no school for students
New York City	Jan. 1	Not printed	Closed	None listed
Northside Independent School District, Texas	Jan. 1	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 4 student holiday, teacher planning
Orange County, Fla.	Jan. 1	Tue., Jan. 5	Closed	Jan. 4 teacher workday, student holiday
Palm Beach County, Fla.	Jan. 1	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 4 duty day for staff, student status not stated
Philadelphia, Pa.	Dec. 31	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 15 and Jan. 29 closed for students (staff development; report card conferences)
Polk County, Fla.	Jan. 1 (New Year’s Day)	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 4-5 no school for students; Jan. 15 early dismissal (150 minutes)
Prince George’s County, Md.	Dec. 31	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 22 early dismissal for students
San Diego Unified, Calif.	Jan. 4	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 4 non-instructional day, no school
Seattle, Wash.	Jan. 1	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 28 day between semesters
Wake County, N.C. (traditional calendar)	Jan. 1	Not printed	Closed	Jan. 19 teacher workday

Notes on the table: Jan. 1, 2027 is a Friday, and Jan. 2 and 3 are the weekend. Philadelphia and Prince George’s County list their breaks as ending Dec. 31. Cobb County’s Important Dates page prints the end of its break as “Friday January 4”, but Jan. 4, 2027 is a Monday, so we show it as Monday, Jan. 4. Wake County’s dates are for its traditional calendar. Memphis-Shelby County lists “Jan. 1-4 Winter Break (Students Out)”.

Who is off on Monday, Jan. 4, 2027?

Jan. 4 is the first Monday of 2027, and the calendars split three ways. Students are off in 22 of the 36 districts, either because the break runs through Jan. 4 or because the day is a staff day.

Closed to students (22): Austin Independent School District, Texas; Broward County, Fla.; Chicago, Ill.; Clark County, Nev.; Cobb County, Ga.; Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District, Texas; Dallas Independent School District, Texas; DeKalb County, Ga.; Denver, Colo.; Fort Worth Independent School District, Texas; Fulton County, Ga.; Gwinnett County, Ga.; Hawaii public schools; Houston Independent School District, Texas; Katy Independent School District, Texas; Los Angeles Unified, Calif.; Memphis-Shelby County, Tenn.; Metro Nashville, Tenn.; Northside Independent School District, Texas; Orange County, Fla.; Polk County, Fla.; San Diego Unified, Calif..

No Jan. 4 closure listed (12): Anne Arundel County, Md.; Baltimore County, Md.; Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C.; District of Columbia Public Schools; Fairfax County, Va.; Jefferson County, Ky. (Louisville); Montgomery County, Md.; New York City; Philadelphia, Pa.; Prince George’s County, Md.; Seattle, Wash.; Wake County, N.C. (traditional calendar). These calendars name no closure that day, but that is not a printed return date.

Not clear for students (2): Lee County, Fla.; Palm Beach County, Fla.. Lee County lists Jan. 4 as a remote professional duty day, and Palm Beach County lists a duty day for staff without saying whether students attend.

Of the 22, the break itself runs through Jan. 4 in Austin, Cobb County, Dallas, Memphis-Shelby County and San Diego Unified, and Los Angeles Unified is on recess until Jan. 8. In the others, Jan. 4 is a staff, planning or professional development day with no students.

When do students go back after winter break?

Six calendars name the first day back:

• Tuesday, Jan. 5: Clark County (“Classes Resume”), Fulton County (first day of second semester), Gwinnett County (begins second semester), Katy ISD (first day of spring semester) and Orange County (begins second semester).
• Monday, Jan. 11: Los Angeles Unified, where the second semester begins after a recess that runs from Dec. 21 through Jan. 8, the latest end of any break in the table.

For the other districts, no return day is printed in the sources we read. Dallas lists Jan. 5 as a professional development day without saying whether students attend. For the full winter break picture, including Thanksgiving, see our winter break 2026 table for 39 districts.

MLK Day 2027: schools closed on Monday, Jan. 18

Every district in the table lists Jan. 18 as a closure: Montgomery County says “Schools and offices closed,” Prince George’s County says “Schools and Offices Closed,” Palm Beach County says “No School & District Offices Closed,” and the rest mark it as a holiday or closure. Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s calendar also lists Jan. 18 as a weather make-up day, so ask the district if you need to know whether it will be used. For the federal holiday itself, what else is closed and why the date moves each year, see our MLK Day 2027 story.

Other January days off after MLK Day

Several calendars list days without students or early release later in the month. Dates below are from the same calendars.

Date	Where the calendar lists it
Fri., Jan. 15	Polk County: early dismissal (150 minutes). Baltimore County: early dismissal (3 hours). Philadelphia: closed for students (staff development).
Tue., Jan. 19	Anne Arundel County and Wake County: teacher workday. Baltimore County: professional development day.
Wed., Jan. 20	Anne Arundel County: semester break.
Fri., Jan. 22	Charlotte-Mecklenburg: teacher workdays. Prince George’s County: early dismissal for students.
Mon., Jan. 25	Montgomery County: grading and planning, no school for students.
Tue., Jan. 26	District of Columbia: half-day records and half-day professional development, no school for students.
Thu., Jan. 28	Seattle: day between semesters. Fairfax County: two-hour early release.
Fri., Jan. 29	Chicago, Fairfax County and Philadelphia: no school for students.

Districts not confirmed for January 2027

We could not confirm January dates for Hillsborough County, Fla. and Miami-Dade County, Fla. on the district sites at publication, so they are left out of the table. Check those district calendars directly.

Print the January 2027 school days off table

The printable below carries the same table for all 36 districts. Pair it with the January 2027 printable calendar or the printable school-year calendar for 2026-27, and see our school holidays guide for other breaks. Spring dates are in our spring break 2027 story.