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Common Religious and Public Holidays for the 2018-19 school year

Many students end up missing school and important school events in order to honor their religious practices. For this reason, OSPI encourages districts not to schedule significant school events on major religious holidays. Schools that plan around major religious holidays convey to all students that they are a meaningful part of their school communities and that their religious traditions matter. The purpose of the calendar below is to assist in this effort to raise awareness about religious holidays practiced in public schools across the state of Washington.

OSPI encourages each local education agency to educate themselves on the religious traditions of the students and communities they serve, strive to honor all religious communities, and work to be inclusive of all students. School personnel can use this calendar when responding to student requests for excused absences for religious purposes or when planning events such as curriculum nights, field trips, school or team pictures, dances, and hearing and vision tests, etc.

For more information about the religions commonly practiced in your community:
Religious Landscape Study (Pew Research Center)

Calendar based on Calendar of Holidays and Religious Observances used by University of Washington

NOTES:
All Jewish and Islamic holidays begin at sundown on the evening before the first date shown.
* These holidays (or dates within holidays) are designated non-work (observance) days.
# Some of these dates are not fixed to a calendar but based on the actual sighting of the moon and therefore there may be some variance by a day.