Alabama school holidays

Alabama starts early and finishes early. Mobile County Public Schools goes back on August 10, 2026, and Jefferson County Schools in the Birmingham area and Baldwin County Public Schools on August 12. Mobile finishes on May 26, 2027 and Jefferson County and Baldwin County both on May 27.

The state requires 180 days or an equivalent number of hours, and the districts here differ mainly in how they spend their discretionary days. The clearest divide is geographic: the two Gulf Coast systems build their year around Mardi Gras and the Birmingham system does not.

One practical note that catches families out: e-learning and virtual learning days at Jefferson County, Mobile and Baldwin are working school days at home, not days off.

Fall break is short and coastal. Mobile takes October 12 and 13, 2026 and Baldwin County October 12 to 14. Jefferson County takes none.

Thanksgiving is the full week everywhere, November 23 to 27, 2026, which is standard across the Deep South and makes it the busiest week of the Alabama autumn.

The December break starts on December 21, 2026 in all three districts, but the returns differ noticeably. Mobile students are back on January 5, 2027, Jefferson County on January 6 and Baldwin County not until January 7, giving Baldwin families a fortnight and a half.

Mardi Gras is the distinctive Alabama holiday and Mobile has the oldest carnival in the country. Mobile County and Baldwin County both close from February 8 to 12, 2027, a full week. Jefferson County does not close at all.

Spring break splits three ways. Jefferson County takes March 22 to 26, 2027, Mobile March 29 to April 2 and Baldwin County April 12 to 16. Baldwin also treats March 26 as an e-learning day rather than a holiday.

Mardi Gras week is the thing to know about Alabama. Gulf Shores and Orange Beach fill with local families in the week of February 8, 2027 while Birmingham children are in school. If you want the Gulf Coast quiet in February, avoid that week; if you want the parades, that is exactly when to go.

The spring break stagger works in visitors' favor. Baldwin County, which covers Gulf Shores itself, does not break until mid-April, so the beaches in late March are busy with inland Alabama families rather than local ones and thin out again before Baldwin's own week.

Jefferson County holds February 15 and March 22 and 23, 2027 as weather days, so a severe winter storm can eat into the Birmingham spring break.

This page covers Jefferson County Schools, Mobile County Public Schools and Baldwin County Public Schools.