School Calendar

The Baldwin County AL School Calendar provides the official schedule for Baldwin County Public Schools, including the first day of school, student and teacher holidays, school breaks, E-Learning days, quarter endings, teacher workdays, graduation activities, reporting periods, exams, and other district events. Families can use the district calendar and its related academic schedules to plan vacations, track grading dates, prepare for school closures, and confirm major events during the 2026-2027 school year.

Official District Calendar

Baldwin County Public Schools maintains the official BCBE District Calendar. This is the primary source for districtwide school calendar information. The calendar is designed to show dates that affect students, families, teachers, and other school employees throughout the academic year.

The district identifies several types of information on the calendar, including:

Student and teacher holidays
School breaks
E-Learning days
End-of-quarter dates
Teacher return dates and workdays
District general events
School board meetings and work sessions

The online calendar also includes a category legend. District General Events and the District Wide Holiday Calendar are identified separately, which helps readers distinguish general administrative events from days when districtwide holiday scheduling affects schools.

Families should treat the main district calendar as the starting point when checking whether school is in session. Other BCBE calendars provide more specialized information, such as reporting periods, exams, graduations, vacation planning, and employee work schedules. These schedules serve different purposes and should not be treated as interchangeable.

2026-2027 School Year Opening

The 2026-2027 school year begins with several teacher work periods before students report. According to the district calendar, teachers return for a period running from August 3 through August 7, 2026. A Teacher Institute is also scheduled for August 7.

Teachers return again on August 10 and August 11. The first day of school for students is Wednesday, August 12, 2026.

Date	District Calendar Event
August 3-7, 2026	Teachers return
August 7, 2026	Teacher Institute
August 10-11, 2026	Teachers return
August 12, 2026	First day of school

This distinction is useful for families reviewing the August calendar. Teacher return dates are employee work dates and do not mean that students are expected to attend school. For students, August 12 is the relevant opening date shown on the district calendar.

Teacher Institute Date

The August 7 Teacher Institute is listed as an all-day event at 1001 E Pride Blvd. in Foley. Because the same date also falls within the August 3-7 teacher return period, employees should read the applicable work calendar and district event information rather than assuming that every employee follows the same schedule.

Student Vacation Schedule

BCBE publishes a separate 2026-2027 vacation planner to help families identify extended breaks and plan travel during the school year. The 2026-2027 Vacation Planner specifically states that a full listing of student holidays is available through the district calendar, so the planner is best used for major vacation periods rather than as a replacement for the complete school schedule.

Major Breaks and Return Dates

Break	Dates	Students Return
Labor Day	September 5-7, 2026	Tuesday, September 8
Fall Break	October 10-14, 2026	Thursday, October 15
Thanksgiving	November 21-29, 2026	Monday, November 30
Christmas and New Year	December 19, 2026-January 6, 2027	Thursday, January 7
Martin Luther King Jr. Break	January 16-18, 2027	Tuesday, January 19
Mardi Gras	February 6-14, 2027	Monday, February 15
Easter	March 26-28, 2027	Monday, March 29
Spring Break	April 10-18, 2027	Monday, April 19

The return date is particularly useful when arranging travel. A break may include weekends as well as weekdays, so families should use the stated student return date rather than simply counting the number of dates shown in the vacation period.

Vacation Planner Versus Full Calendar

The vacation planner focuses on the larger periods most useful for family travel planning. The district calendar has a broader purpose and includes additional school-year events. A family planning an extended trip can begin with the vacation planner, but should still review the district calendar before finalizing dates to account for other academic or district scheduling information.

Reporting Periods and Progress Reports

Families tracking grades should use the district's separate 2026-2027 academic information and reporting calendar. This schedule contains reporting periods, progress report weeks, grading periods, final and midterm examination information, academic status dates, retention letter timing, and field trip dates.

The progress report schedule identifies four periods during the school year:

First-quarter progress reports: week of September 8-11, 2026
Second-quarter progress reports: week of November 16-20, 2026
Third-quarter progress reports: week of February 1-5, 2027
Fourth-quarter progress reports: week of April 19-23, 2027

These are presented as weeks rather than a single universal distribution date. Parents and guardians reviewing academic progress should therefore distinguish the progress-report schedule from the date on which a grading period ends.

Nine Reporting Periods

The academic information document divides the year into nine reporting periods. The first begins on August 12, 2026, which is also the first day of school. The first eight periods are identified as 20 days each in the district document, while the ninth is identified as 13 days.

Reporting Period	Begins	Ends	Days
1st	August 12, 2026	September 9, 2026	20
2nd	September 10, 2026	October 7, 2026	20
3rd	October 8, 2026	November 9, 2026	20
4th	November 10, 2026	December 15, 2026	20
5th	December 16, 2026	February 1, 2027	20
6th	February 2, 2027	March 8, 2027	20
7th	March 9, 2027	April 5, 2027	20
8th	April 6, 2027	May 10, 2027	20

For the final portion of the year, families should rely on the official academic calendar itself when confirming exact reporting information. This is especially relevant when coordinating final examinations and end-of-year academic requirements.

Quarter Grading Dates

The same academic schedule separately identifies four grading periods. These should not be confused with the nine reporting periods above. The district gives the following grading-period ending dates:

First grading period: October 9, 2026, after 42 days
Second grading period: December 18, 2026, after 41 days
Third grading period: March 17, 2027, after 44 days
Fourth grading period: May 27, 2027, after 46 days

This distinction matters because a progress-report week, a 20-day reporting period, and a grading-period ending date refer to different points in the academic calendar. Parents comparing dates should first identify which type of academic record or school deadline they are trying to track.

Midterms and Final Exams

The district academic information includes a separate examination schedule for students in grades 7-12. Midterms are scheduled for December 15-17, with a midterm make-up date of December 18.

For the end of the school year, senior final examinations are scheduled for May 5-7, 2027. Students in grades 7-11 have finals scheduled for May 24-26, followed by a final exam make-up date on May 27, 2027. The district document states that K-6 elementary students do not have final exams.

Students	Exam Period
Grades 7-12	Midterms, December 15-17
Grades 7-12	Midterm make-up, December 18
Seniors	Finals, May 5-7, 2027
Grades 7-11	Finals, May 24-26, 2027
Grades 7-11	Final exam make-up, May 27, 2027
K-6	No final exams

Students and families should distinguish exam dates from grading-period dates. For example, senior finals take place earlier in May than the finals scheduled for grades 7-11, reflecting the separate end-of-year schedule for graduating students.

Other Academic Dates

The district's academic calendar contains several dates that may not appear on a family's vacation planner but can still affect school planning.

Academic Status and Retention

For elementary students, the Notice of Academic Status is scheduled for January 8, 2027, with report cards. The district also identifies the week of March 22-26, 2027, for elementary and middle school retention letters. That period is described as the first week of the fourth quarter.

Field Trip Scheduling

The first day for field trips is October 1, 2026. According to the academic information, trips scheduled before that date require assistant superintendent approval.

The last day for field trips is May 7, 2027. Trips scheduled after that date also require assistant superintendent approval. These dates are administrative limits for school trip scheduling rather than general student holidays.

Instructional Time Requirements

The academic information also cites House Bill 360 requirements of a minimum of 1,080 instructional hours per year and a minimum of 375 instructional minutes per day. These figures help explain why district academic calendars account for instructional time as well as holidays, breaks, teacher workdays, and other scheduled activities.

Graduation Calendar

Graduation events have their own schedule and should be checked separately from the general district calendar. BCBE provides an official 2027 commencement schedule showing graduation dates, times, schools, and venues. The document is identified as revised June 22, 2026.

The schedule begins with the Baldwin County IMPACT Program on May 11, 2027, at Robertsdale Coliseum. Several ceremonies are then scheduled for May 17, followed by additional high school graduations on May 18.

Date	School	Time	Venue
May 11, 2027	IMPACT	6:00 p.m.	Robertsdale Coliseum
May 17, 2027	Baldwin County Virtual School	2:00 p.m.	Daphne Civic Center
May 17, 2027	Baldwin Preparatory Academy	7:00 p.m.	Foley Event Center
May 17, 2027	Baldwin County High School	7:00 p.m.	Bill Mitchell Field
May 17, 2027	Spanish Fort High School	7:00 p.m.	Spanish Fort Stadium
May 17, 2027	Fairhope High School	7:00 p.m.	W. C. Majors Field
May 17, 2027	Elberta High School	7:00 p.m.	Warrior Field
May 18, 2027	Daphne High School	7:00 p.m.	Trojan Field
May 18, 2027	Foley High School	7:00 p.m.	Foley Event Center
May 18, 2027	Robertsdale High School	7:00 p.m.	J.D. Sellars Stadium

Graduation families should use the commencement document when confirming a ceremony because the graduation schedule contains school-specific venue and time information that is more detailed than the general school calendar.

Board Meetings and District Events

The district calendar also contains Baldwin County Board of Education activities. BCBE states that work sessions begin at 5 p.m., board meetings begin at 5:30 p.m., and joint meetings begin at 4:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

The district specifically warns that meeting dates, locations, and times are subject to change. This makes the individual calendar entry especially important. For example, the August 20, 2026 district calendar entry identifies a BCBE Board Meeting from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at 1091 B Avenue in Loxley. When a specific event entry provides a time that differs from the usual meeting time, readers should use the event information displayed for that particular meeting.

District events can appear in the same monthly calendar view as school opening dates and holidays. Families looking only for student attendance information should pay attention to the event category and event title instead of assuming every entry changes the student school schedule.

Employee Work Calendars

BCBE also publishes employee work calendars for the upcoming year. These calendars are divided by employee classification, and employees are instructed to select their job classification when viewing the schedule.

This is different from the student calendar. An employee workday may occur when students are not attending classes, while teacher return periods can begin before the first student day. The August 2026 schedule illustrates this difference: teachers return beginning August 3, while students begin school on August 12.

Employees should therefore use the work calendar corresponding to their classification rather than relying only on the family vacation planner or the student-facing dates in the general calendar.

Choosing the Correct Calendar

BCBE publishes several calendar documents because each serves a different scheduling need. Selecting the right one reduces confusion when dates appear similar or when the general calendar does not contain the academic detail a family or employee needs.

For School Attendance Dates

The BCBE District Calendar is the primary source for school openings, districtwide holidays, breaks, E-Learning days, quarter endings, and other general district scheduling. This is the best place to begin when the question is whether students are expected to attend school on a particular date.

For Family Vacation Planning

The vacation planner presents the major extended breaks and clearly gives the date students return after each period. It is particularly useful for Labor Day, fall break, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year, Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, Mardi Gras, Easter, and spring break.

For Grades and Exams

The reporting and academic information calendar should be used for progress reports, reporting periods, grading periods, midterms, final examinations, academic status notices, retention letters, and field trip scheduling limits.

For Graduation Ceremonies

The separate graduation calendar gives school-specific ceremony dates, times, and venues. Families of graduating students should use that schedule rather than relying on general end-of-year calendar dates.

For Employee Schedules

Teachers and other employees should select the work calendar associated with their employee classification. Employee calendars may include workdays and reporting dates that do not apply to students.

Avoiding Calendar Mistakes

One of the most common sources of confusion is treating every BCBE calendar as though it contains the same information. The district calendar, vacation planner, academic schedule, graduation calendar, and employee work calendars address different needs.

Several distinctions are especially useful:

A teacher return day is not automatically a student attendance day.
A vacation planner does not replace the complete list of student holidays.
A progress-report week is different from the end of a grading period.
A 20-day reporting period is different from a quarter grading period.
A graduation date should be confirmed through the commencement schedule.
A standard board meeting time can be superseded by the time shown for a specific meeting.

Families planning travel should also pay attention to the date students return. For example, the Christmas and New Year break extends through January 6, 2027, with students returning Thursday, January 7. Spring break extends through April 18, with students returning Monday, April 19.

Similarly, parents monitoring academic performance should identify whether they need a progress report date, reporting period boundary, grading-period end, or exam schedule before using a calendar date. Those dates serve different purposes even when they fall close together.

Monthly Calendar and RSS Feeds

The district calendar includes a month-by-month display as well as Calendar RSS Feeds. The monthly view places school dates alongside district general events and districtwide holidays, allowing users to review the sequence of events around a particular week.

For August 2026, for example, the calendar shows teacher return periods, the Teacher Institute, the first student day, and a board meeting. This format can be more useful than a vacation planner when a family needs to understand what is happening on or around one specific date.

Readers should still pay attention to event categories. A board meeting, technology event, or other district general event appearing on the calendar does not necessarily alter the student attendance schedule.

Finding School Staff

Some calendar questions may be specific to a school, teacher, registrar, counselor, or administrator rather than a districtwide date. BCBE provides an official staff directory that can be searched by an employee's first or last name, location, role, or department.

The directory also notes that teachers, staff, and administrators for individual schools are available through each school's page. This can help when a question concerns a school-specific activity rather than a districtwide holiday or academic date.

Before contacting an individual school employee, it is useful to determine which calendar the question concerns. A districtwide holiday or first-day-of-school question belongs to the district calendar, while a question about a particular school's classroom or administrative activity may require school-level information.

School Calendar Department

Baldwin County Public Schools
2600-A North Hand Avenue
Bay Minette, AL 36507
251.937.0306
251.937.0318

School Calendar FAQs

What should I do if two Baldwin County school calendar documents show different dates?

Check the most specific and most recently revised Baldwin County Public Schools document for the event you are researching. This matters because separate BCBE publications can occasionally contain conflicting year information. For example, the academic information document displays some graduation entries with 2026 dates, while the dedicated Commencement 2027 schedule identifies the ceremonies as May 2027 and states that it was revised June 22, 2026. For graduation planning, the dedicated commencement schedule is therefore the more appropriate document to review. Families can return to the official Baldwin County Public Schools calendar page to locate the district's currently posted calendar files.

How can I tell whether a date belongs to the current school year?

Look at the school-year label rather than relying on the calendar year alone. The 2026-2027 school year includes dates in both 2026 and 2027, so an event occurring after January is still part of the same academic year. When reviewing downloadable BCBE files, also check the title and any revision date printed on the document. This is especially important for graduation, exams, reporting periods, and other schedules that may be replaced or corrected during the year.

Why does a Baldwin County calendar event sometimes appear more than once?

The district's online calendar can display a multi-day event on each applicable date, and some entries may also appear more than once within the calendar interface. For example, the August 2026 view shows the teacher-return period across multiple days and contains repeated listings for certain all-day events. Readers should focus on the event's stated beginning and ending dates rather than interpreting every displayed occurrence as a separate event. When checking a specific day, also read the event title and category so a district administrative activity is not mistaken for a change to the student schedule.