Panama City school holidays 2026: term dates and calendar

Panama public holidays 2026

Every school in Panama City closes on national public holidays, and November carries an unusually heavy cluster because the month holds the country's patriotic season. The confirmed 2026 national holidays that affect the school calendar are listed below.

Carnival, in the days before Ash Wednesday on 18 February, is not a formal national holiday but most schools and offices wind down, so treat that week as effectively closed. The four November patriotic dates fall close together and many schools bridge them into longer breaks.

State school term dates 2026 (MEDUCA)

The Ministry of Education sets one calendar for state and most private national schools. The 2026 academic year runs across three trimesters totalling 42 weeks, with teacher organisation week from 23 to 27 February and classes for pupils starting on Monday 2 March 2026.

The long summer holiday for the state calendar then runs from mid December 2026 until the start of the 2027 academic year in early March, which is the southern style break that lines up with the hottest, driest part of the Panamanian year rather than with the European or North American summer.

International school term dates

This is where Panama City diverges sharply from the MEDUCA pattern. The larger international schools, including American curriculum and IB schools serving expatriate and diplomatic families, run a northern hemisphere year that starts in mid August 2025 and finishes in early to mid June 2026, with a long summer holiday across June, July and August. A typical international school shape for 2025 to 2026 looks like this.

British and IB schools layer in an October break and a February break in the style of their parent systems, and they still close for Panamanian national holidays. If your child moves between a national school and an international school, plan for a year of overlapping but not identical breaks. For the full picture of who teaches what, see our curriculum guides.

Planning the year

Two practical points. First, the dry season from roughly mid December to April is peak travel time and lines up with the state school summer, so flights and beach rentals are most expensive then. International school families travelling in the northern summer get cheaper local options because it is the green season at home. Second, fee payment cycles follow the calendar your school uses, so an August start school will bill its first instalment before the academic year, while a March start school bills in the new calendar year. Budget against the right cycle using our Panama City international school fees guide. When you have settled on a calendar, the Panama City schools directory lets you compare term dates school by school.

Exam season and where families settle

Exam timing follows the calendar a school uses. International schools sitting IB Diploma and IGCSE examinations run them in the May and June window, which means revision leave and study days bunch into the second half of the international year just before the long summer break. National schools assess at the end of each trimester, so the heaviest assessment weeks fall in late May, early September and early December. Expatriate families choosing schools tend to cluster in the eastern districts of Panama City, around Costa del Este, Punta Pacifica and San Francisco, where most of the larger international campuses and bilingual schools sit within a short commute. Knowing both the assessment rhythm and the catchment helps you judge how much of the year is genuinely free for travel rather than tied up in exams, mock weeks and end of trimester reporting.

Common questions

When do schools break up in Panama City? State schools following MEDUCA finish their year in mid December 2026 and break until early March 2027. International schools on the August to June calendar break up for the long summer holiday in early to mid June 2026.

How long is the summer holiday in Panama City? For state schools the long break runs from mid December to early March, around eleven weeks. For international schools the summer holiday runs from June to mid August, around ten weeks.

When does the 2026 school year start in Panama City? State school classes begin on Monday 2 March 2026 after teacher organisation week from 23 to 27 February. International schools begin their 2026 to 2027 year in mid August 2026.

Do international schools in Panama City follow the MEDUCA calendar? No. Most international schools run a northern hemisphere August to June year and only the dates of national public holidays are shared with the MEDUCA calendar. Always confirm with your specific school.

Why does Panama have so many November school closures? November is Panama's patriotic month, with Separation Day, Flag Day, Colon Day, the First Cry of Independence and Independence from Spain all falling within four weeks. Schools commonly bridge these into longer breaks.

Related guides

• Panama City city guide
• Panama City international school fees 2026
• Mexico City school holidays 2026
• Compare curricula