While Rochester area school districts won’t be in session later this month, a three-day holiday weekend overlaps with the annual February break week for many in the region.
Presidents Day is a federal holiday celebrated each year in mid-February to honor past U.S. presidents. Locally, it’s part of the next big break week – known as Presidents Day break week in some districts, midwinter recess in others or simply as February break week among most students and teachers.
Here’s when we celebrate Presidents Day and why:
When is Presidents Day?
This year, Presidents Day falls on Monday, Feb. 17.
The federal holiday is observed each year on the third Monday of February.
When is midwinter break for schools in the Mohawk Valley?
For most school districts in the Oneida and Herkimer counties, the midwinter break runs from Monday, Feb. 17 to Friday, Feb. 21.
When including the surrounding weekends, students and staff will have a nine-day recess, from Saturday, Feb. 15 through Sunday, Feb. 23.
What is Presidents Day?
Officially known as Washington’s Birthday, the first federal holiday of the year was originally meant to honor the country’s first president, George Washington.
Washington was born in Virginia on Feb. 11, 1731, according to the then-used Julian calendar. In 1752, however, Britain and all its colonies adopted the Gregorian calendar which moved his birthday a year and 11 days to Feb. 22, 1732.
Eventually, the holiday included honoring President Abraham Lincoln, whose birthday is Feb. 12.
The position of the holiday between the birthdays of Washington and Lincoln gave rise to the popular name of Presidents Day, according to the National Archives.
In 1885, Congress designated Feb. 22 as a holiday for all federal workers. Nearly a century later, in 1971, the Uniform Monday Holiday Law changed the date to the third Monday in February, according to the National Archives.
The Uniform Holiday Bill mandated that three holidays, including Presidents Day, occur on Mondays to prevent midweek shutdowns and add long weekends to the federal calendar.
Why do we celebrate Presidents Day?
The 16th President of the United States Abraham Lincoln (1809 – 1865). (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
The country celebrated the founding father’s birthday long before Congress declared the day a federal holiday, which was the country’s first federal holiday to honor an individual’s birth date, according to the National Archives.
Around the centennial of Washington’s birthday, Congress established a joint committee to oversee festivities to honor the former president.
On Feb. 22, 1832, the committee recommended Congress adjourn out of respect for Washington’s memory and in commemoration of his birth.
Prompted by a memorial from the mayor and other citizens of Philadelphia, the House and Senate commemorated the 130th anniversary of Washington’s birth by reading aloud his farewell address, according to the National Archives. Eventually, this event became a tradition in the Senate that is still observed to this day.
Washington’s Birthday did not become a legal holiday until Jan. 31, 1879, when Congress added Feb. 22 to the list of holidays to be observed by federal employees in the District of Columbia. This did not become a paid holiday for all federal employees until 1885.
What is open/closed on Presidents Day?
The U.S. Postal Service, banks, the stock market and most schools will be closed on Presidents Day. Most retail and grocery stores remain open.
Who is off for Presidents Day?
Federal holidays are those observed by the federal government, so anyone who works for the federal government generally has the day off. Federal holidays may also be observed on Monday or Friday if they fall on a weekend.
Other 2025 federal holidays
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Martin Luther King Jr. Day/Inauguration Day (Jan. 20)
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Independence Day (July 4)
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Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 27)
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: When is Presidents Day 2025 and why we celebrate the federal holiday?
Read the full article here