New Jersey school holidays
Term dates for New Jersey's largest city school districts. NJ schools start after Labor Day and close for the NJEA convention in November.
Pick your district
← All statesHow the New Jersey school calendar works
New Jersey requires 180 instructional days and, by long tradition rather than statute, almost every district starts after Labor Day. Newark Public Schools and Paterson Public Schools both open on September 8, 2026, the day after the holiday.
The year then runs a long way into the summer. Paterson finishes on June 23, 2027 and Newark on June 28, which makes Newark's school year one of the latest-finishing on this site. Both districts hold snow make-up days at the end of June, so those dates can move later still.
When the breaks fall in 2026-27
The NJEA convention break is the state's signature holiday. Both districts close on November 5 and 6, 2026 while the New Jersey Education Association holds its annual convention in Atlantic City. Combined with the weekend it produces a four-day break in early November that neither New York nor Pennsylvania schedules, and Atlantic City itself is at its busiest.
Thanksgiving is short, just November 26 and 27, 2026 in both districts. New Jersey does not take the full week.
Winter recess runs December 24, 2026 to January 1, 2027 in Newark and Paterson alike, a nine-day break rather than a fortnight.
Paterson takes a two-day winter break on February 15 and 16, 2027 around Presidents' Day. Newark does not, so Newark children are in school those days.
Spring recess is identical in both: March 26 to April 2, 2027, taking in Good Friday and Easter Monday.
What it means for planning
The early November break is the best planning opportunity in the state. Prices at the Jersey Shore and in the Poconos are at off-season rates, the weather is usually still workable, and nowhere else in the region is on holiday. Atlantic City is the one exception, because that is where the convention is held.
Spring recess is the opposite. Both districts are off together in the week around Easter, and so is much of New York and Pennsylvania, which puts pressure on everything within driving distance of the corridor.
One structural caution: Newark states that snow days may be taken out of spring recess rather than added to the end of the year. After a hard winter the last week of March can partially disappear, so avoid non-refundable bookings in that window if you are in Newark.
This page covers Newark Public Schools and Paterson Public Schools.