Minnesota school holidays

Minnesota is one of the small group of states that legislates a post-Labor Day start, and it shows. Anoka-Hennepin School District, Saint Paul Public Schools and Minneapolis Public Schools all open on September 8, 2026, the day after Labor Day, with Anoka-Hennepin phasing in grades 1 to 5, 6 and 9 on the 8th and everyone else on the 9th, and both Minneapolis and Saint Paul starting pre-K and kindergarten on September 10.

The finishing dates are just as close together: Anoka-Hennepin on June 10, 2027 and Minneapolis and Saint Paul both on June 11. Minnesota therefore has one of the most uniform school years in the country, and a Twin Cities family can usually assume that whatever their district does, the neighboring one does too.

MEA break is the distinctively Minnesotan holiday. It falls when Education Minnesota holds its professional conference, and in 2026-27 that means October 15 and 16 for Anoka-Hennepin and Minneapolis. Combined with the weekend it makes a four-day break in the middle of October. Saint Paul does not schedule an MEA break in 2026-27, though it does return to one on October 21 and 22 in 2027-28.

Thanksgiving is short. Minneapolis and Anoka-Hennepin close November 25 to 27, 2026, and Saint Paul only November 26 and 27.

Winter break varies by three days at the front. Minneapolis starts earliest on December 21, 2026, Saint Paul on December 23 and Anoka-Hennepin on December 24, and all three run to January 1, 2027.

Anoka-Hennepin is alone in taking a Presidents' Day break, February 15 and 16, 2027. The others work through it.

Spring break splits the Twin Cities. Anoka-Hennepin takes March 29 to April 2, 2027, while Minneapolis and Saint Paul both take the following week, April 5 to 9.

MEA weekend is the best-value break in the state. It is a genuine four-day window, it falls outside every other state's calendar, and the North Shore, Duluth and the Mall of America absorb it comfortably. Domestic flights that weekend are priced as ordinary October travel.

The spring break split is small but real. If your children are in Anoka-Hennepin you are away the week before Minneapolis and Saint Paul, which means quieter conditions at any Minnesota destination and cheaper flights south.

The compressed post-Labor Day start also means Minnesota families lose the last week of August that most southern states have already spent in school. State fair week in late August is still holiday time here, which is not true almost anywhere else.

This page covers Anoka-Hennepin School District, Saint Paul Public Schools and Minneapolis Public Schools.