The GCISD Instructional Calendar for the 2025-2026 school year was approved by the Board of Trustees at its January 13 Regular Meeting. GCISD’s first day of school will be Wednesday, August 13, 2025.
A few holidays and important dates on the calendar include:
District holidays are on September 1, 2025, October 13, 2025, January 19, 2026, April 3, 2026, and May 25, 2026
Five professional development days (no school for students) are scheduled for September 22, 2025, November 3, 2025, January 5-6, 2026, and February 16, 2026
Thanksgiving Break runs November 24-28, 2025
Winter Break runs December 19, 2025 - January 2, 2026
Spring Break runs March 16-20, 2026
The calendar includes flexible minutes, which allows for two days for instructional planning (no school for students) on October 10, 2025, and March 13, 2026 (New this year)
The last day of school is on Thursday, May 21, 2026
Click here to view or download the final 2025-2026 GCISD Instructional Calendar.
The calendar meets the minimum 75,600 instructional minutes required for students, includes the contract length required for staff and meets other parameters set by the Texas Education Agency, including state assessment dates.
The primary update to the instructional calendar for GCISD is to the instructional minutes per day. All schools will begin five minutes earlier than the previous year, and dismiss five minutes later than the previous year, for a total of 10 additional instructional minutes per day. This update allows GCISD to designate two instructional planning days within a teacher’s 187-day contract when students will be out of school, while also keeping the school year beginning on a Wednesday and still concluding before Memorial Day. These days are not for professional development, but rather designated time at the end of grading periods for staff to plan and design student learning with teams, analyze data, hold professional learning communities (PLCs), and address any additional classroom needs.
New school start and end times for the 2025-2026 school year are as follows:
Elementary school: 7:35 a.m.-3:05 p.m.
Middle school: 8:05 a.m.-3:35 p.m.
High school: 8:35 a.m.-4:05 p.m.
Additionally, the high school bell schedule will see an adjustment to a nine-period schedule that includes eight periods of classes with one period designated for lunch. All periods will be 45 minutes with five minute passing periods. This allows students to maintain the opportunity to earn eight credits each school year, while increasing the lunch time for teachers to 45 minutes. Teachers will also have a 45-minute conference/planning period each day. The total length of the school day is similar to surrounding districts and increases the high schools’ ability to strategically schedule courses that require travel to the opposite high school, while minimizing lost instructional time.
TIME | PERIOD | MINUTES |
8:35-9:20 | 1st Period | 45 |
9:25-10:10 | 2nd Period | 45 |
10:15-11:05 | 3rd Period + announcements | 50 |
11:10-11:55 | 4th Period (Lunch A) | 45 |
12:00-12:45 | 5th Period (Lunch B) | 45 |
12:50-1:35 | 6th Period (Lunch C) | 45 |
1:40-2:25 | 7th Period | 45 |
2:30-3:15 | 8th Period | 45 |
3:20-4:05 | 9th Period | 45 |
These changes reflect feedback from district leadership teams, campus principals, various departments, the District Excellence Committee (DEC), and the Education Advisory Committee (EAC).
*Now that the GCISD Instructional Calendar has been approved, iUniversity Prep and Collegiate Academy will develop calendars specialized to the specifications of their programs, and those will be shared with their students and families.