Richardson ISD School Calendar 2026-2027 | Printable PDF

Richardson ISD Calendar 26-27 is finally out, and if you’ve got kids at Richardson High, Berkner, Pearce, Lake Highlands, or any of the district’s elementary and middle schools, this is the calendar you’ll want bookmarked all year. Richardson Independent School District serves families across Richardson, parts of Dallas, and a small slice of Garland, all in Dallas County, Texas. The 2026-2027 academic year runs from August through May, and we verified this on Richardson ISD’s official website and in the district’s published calendar PDF.

This post covers the Richardson ISD Calendar 26-27 first day of school, the last day, every break, and all the early release days packed into the year. We also cover the Richardson ISD Calendar spring break 2027 dates, which line up with several neighboring Dallas-area districts this year. Parents bookmark this page because school calendars shift slightly every year, snow days can move a date, and having one clean reference saves you from digging through a 20-page PDF every time you need to check a date for daycare, travel, or work leave.

At-A-Glance Summary

Here’s the short version for parents who just need the key numbers before they plan anything else.

• First day of school: August 12, 2026
• Last day of school: May 26, 2027
• Total school days: 174 instructional days (confirmed by the RISD Board of Trustees when the calendar was approved)

Richardson ISD’s calendar is built around Texas’s 75,600-minute instructional requirement rather than a strict 180-day count, which is why the school year lands at 174 days with slightly longer daily hours built in.

Key Dates Table: Richardson ISD Calendar 26-27

Below is the full breakdown of the Richardson ISD Calendar 2026 27 template, pulled straight from the district’s official PDF. Save this table or use it as your Richardson ISD Calendar 26-27 printable reference.

Event	Start Date	End Date	Notes
Fourth of July Staff Holiday	July 3, 2026	July 3, 2026	Staff only, before school year begins
First Day of School	August 12, 2026	August 12, 2026	Students and staff
Early Release	August 26, 2026	August 26, 2026	Two hours ahead of normal dismissal
Labor Day	September 7, 2026	September 7, 2026	Student and staff holiday
Early Release	September 23, 2026	September 23, 2026	Two hours ahead of normal dismissal
First Grading Period Ends	October 7, 2026	October 7, 2026	Regular school day
Fall Break	October 8, 2026	October 12, 2026	Student and staff holiday
Student Holiday/Staff Professional Learning	November 2, 2026	November 3, 2026	No students on campus
Student Holiday/Staff Exchange Days	November 23, 2026	November 25, 2026	No students on campus
Thanksgiving Holiday	November 26, 2026	November 27, 2026	Student and staff holiday
Second Grading Period Ends / Early Release	December 18, 2026	December 18, 2026	Two hours ahead of normal dismissal
Winter Break	December 21, 2026	January 4, 2027	Student and staff holiday
Student Holiday/Staff Professional Learning	January 5, 2027	January 5, 2027	No students on campus
Second Semester Begins	January 6, 2027	January 6, 2027	Students return
Martin Luther King Jr. Day	January 18, 2027	January 18, 2027	Student and staff holiday
Early Release	February 3, 2027	February 3, 2027	Two hours ahead of normal dismissal
Student Holiday/Staff Professional Learning	February 15, 2027	February 15, 2027	No students on campus
Enrollment Opens for 2027-28	February 23, 2027	February 23, 2027	Regular school day
Third Grading Period Ends	March 12, 2027	March 12, 2027	Regular school day
Spring Break	March 15, 2027	March 19, 2027	Student and staff holiday
Make-Up Day (contingency)	March 26, 2027	March 26, 2027	Used only if needed for weather closures
Make-Up Day (contingency)	April 23, 2027	April 23, 2027	Used only if needed for weather closures
Early Release	May 5, 2027	May 5, 2027	Two hours ahead of normal dismissal
Fourth Grading Period Ends / Last Day of School	May 26, 2027	May 26, 2027	Early release, last day
Memorial Day	May 31, 2027	May 31, 2027	Staff holiday

Source: Richardson ISD official 2026-2027 calendar PDF, published by Richardson ISD.

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Always double-check and verify calendar dates from the official Richardson ISD website before making plans. Districts occasionally adjust a make-up day or early release date after a calendar is first published, so a quick check before booking travel or requesting time off is worth the two minutes.

You can download the official document directly here: Richardson ISD 2026-2027 Official Calendar PDF

School Hours by Grade Level

Level	Hours
Pre-K Programs	Check with home campus
Elementary	7:50 a.m. – 3:10 p.m.
Junior High/Middle School	8:15 a.m. – 3:50 p.m.
High School	9:00 a.m. – 4:20 p.m.

Early release dismissal is two hours ahead of normal dismissal time for every campus level.

See also: School Year vs Calendar Year: How the US Academic Calendar Works

About Richardson ISD

Richardson Independent School District serves more than 35,000 students across 49 campuses: 36 elementary schools, 8 junior high/middle schools, 4 high schools, and 1 alternative campus. The district covers 46 square miles across parts of Richardson, Dallas, and Garland in Dallas County, and it’s home to roughly 240,000 residents. RISD has 13 bilingual campuses and students who speak more than 80 languages and dialects, reflecting one of the more diverse student populations in North Texas. Tabitha Branum currently serves as Superintendent of Schools. The district’s four traditional high schools are Richardson High School, Berkner High School, J.J. Pearce High School, and Lake Highlands High School.

What Parents in Dallas County Should Know This Year

A few things stand out on this year’s calendar. First, spring break lands March 15-19, 2027, and Superintendent Branum has noted the district tries to align its spring break with Dallas College’s schedule since many RISD families have dual-credit students or younger siblings on connected schedules. Second, the school year wraps up May 26, a few days later than some neighboring districts, so don’t assume summer camps or programs start on the same date as your friend’s kids in a different school system. Third, this calendar keeps two contingency make-up days on the books, March 26 and April 23, which only become school days if winter weather forces a closure earlier in the year.

How Richardson ISD Compares to Neighboring Districts

Richardson ISD’s first day of school on August 12, 2026, is one day later than Dallas ISD and Plano ISD, which both begin on August 11. The three districts also share the same spring break week, March 15–19, 2027. Winter-break schedules are also broadly similar, although the districts differ in how they classify professional-learning and student-holiday days around the winter recess. Families with children in multiple districts should check each district’s individual calendar rather than assuming the breaks are identical.

Planning a Family Trip? Best Times to Travel

Winter Break is the longest stretch on this calendar, running December 21, 2026, through January 4, 2027, which gives families a full two weeks for travel without pulling kids out of class. Spring Break, March 15-19, 2027, is the next best window and tends to be the most popular for flights and family trips, so booking early matters if you’re planning to travel that week. Thanksgiving Break is shorter at just two official holiday days, November 26-27, but combined with the two student holiday/staff exchange days right before it (November 23-25), families effectively get a five-day stretch from November 23 through November 27.

See also: Crandall ISD Calendar 2026-2027 | Printable PDF

School Closings History in Dallas County

Richardson ISD has closed campuses in past years for winter weather, including multi-day closures during hard freeze events that hit North Texas. In those years, the district has used “bankable minutes,” meaning extra instructional minutes built into regular school days, to cover the state’s required instructional time instead of tacking extra days onto the calendar. That’s part of why this year’s calendar includes two contingency make-up days rather than a longer default school year. If a snow closure happens this year, watch for a district-wide alert and check whether March 26 or April 23 gets activated as a make-up day.

FAQs

Final Word

Bookmark this page now, because school calendars have a way of becoming urgent the week you actually need them. For real-time closings, delays, or last-minute changes, Richardson ISD’s official website at risd.org is always the final word, and it updates faster than any third-party site. Spring break dates are one of the most-searched items on any district calendar, so it’s worth swinging back through this page in March to confirm nothing has shifted. Until then, you’ve got the full Richardson ISD Calendar 26-27 right here, verified and ready to print.