California school holidays

California districts negotiate their calendars locally, and the state's only real constraint is the 180-day instructional year. Districts hit that number in different ways, which is why the five on this page start across a fortnight and finish across a fortnight.

Los Angeles Unified returns on August 12, 2026 and runs all the way to June 4, 2027. San Diego Unified starts earlier on August 10 but finishes on May 26, more than a week ahead of LA. Fresno Unified starts on August 17 and runs to June 10, 2027, and Long Beach Unified is the outlier at both ends, back on August 25 and out on June 10. Elk Grove Unified near Sacramento takes the shortest span, August 13 to May 27.

California is one of the few big states where Thanksgiving is not uniform. Los Angeles Unified closes only for November 26 and 27, 2026, the holiday itself and the Friday. San Diego, Fresno, Long Beach and Elk Grove all take the full week from November 23. If you are in LA, the Monday to Wednesday before Thanksgiving are ordinary school days.

Winter break starts on December 21, 2026 in all five districts, but the returns are staggered in a way that matters for a long trip. San Diego and Long Beach are back on January 4, 2027, Elk Grove on January 5, Los Angeles on January 11 after a three-week break, and Fresno on January 11 as well. LA families get the longest winter holiday of any large district in the state.

Spring break is spread over four different weeks. Elk Grove goes first, March 15 to 19, 2027. Los Angeles and Fresno take March 22 to 26, with Fresno extending to March 29. San Diego takes March 29 to April 2, and Long Beach waits until April 5 to 9.

No single week empties out California, which is good news if you are visiting theme parks. The pressure points are the last week of March, when Los Angeles and Fresno overlap, and the second week of the winter break, when LA is still off and most of the state is back at school. That second week is one of the better times to be in Southern California with kids.

Year-round and multi-track schools complicate this further. Elk Grove's dates here are the traditional single-track calendar, and individual charter schools across the state set their own terms, so check your own school before you commit to flights.

This page covers Los Angeles Unified, San Diego Unified, Fresno Unified, Long Beach Unified and Elk Grove Unified.