Champaign-Urbana Area School Start Dates

Start dates for Champaign-Urbana area school districts

Mark your calendars for the first day of the 2026-27 school year!

Why is it important for the public to know school start dates? For one thing, you’ll need to know this important date because there are many things to be accomplished before that day arrives. Physicals, dental and eye exams, back-to-school shopping, etc. Looking further ahead, the start of school also means the time when drivers need to be extra careful on the roads, with many more children out and about, walking and biking to school. And it’s also when yellow buses return to our streets, which may disrupt some traffic patterns that we forget about during the summer.

This article contains a listing of public school district start dates for communities in the Champaign County area, including Champaign, Urbana, Mahomet, Monticello, Fisher, St. Joseph, Rantoul and more.

Check out our entire Back to School series, presented by Christie Clinic:

Thank you to Christie Clinic for presenting our 2026 Champaign-Urbana Area Back to School series

Christie Clinic wants to make sure your child is up to date on required school immunizations before the first day. Parents can schedule back-to-school appointments now at christieclinic.com or on their patient portal.

For more information: Website or Facebook

School Start Dates have been collected using information provided by school districts’ websites. Schools whose information is not listed have not provided information on their websites noting the first day of school. Please contact the schools directly with questions.

Champaign and Urbana appear first; all other districts appear below them in alphabetical order.

The school start date listed is the first day of attendance for the vast majority of students in that district; kindergarten students often start on a different day and there may be other exceptions.

Champaign-Urbana Area School Start Dates

Start dates for Champaign-Urbana area school districts

Check out our entire Back to School series, presented by Christie Clinic:

Thank you to Christie Clinic for presenting our 2026 Champaign-Urbana Area Back to School series

Champaign Unit 4

Urbana School District 116

Fisher CUSD 1

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley

Gifford Grade School 188

Heritage CUSD 8

Mahomet-Seymour CUSD 3

Monticello CUSD 25

Prairieview-Ogden District 197

Rantoul City Schools 137

Rantoul Township High School 193

St. Joseph CCSD 169

St. Joseph-Ogden High School

Tuscola 301

Unit 7 Schools (Tolono, Sidney, Sadorus, Philo, Pesotum)

University Laboratory High School (Urbana)

Villa Grove