When is Presidents' Day 2017 For The Mid-Hudson Valley?

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY — Presidents' Day is just around the corner (if you think of weekends as turning the corner on the work week) and that means some area students have a break coming up.

Presidents' Day is always celebrated on the third Monday in February, so it comes on Feb. 20 this year. It was originally a holiday to celebrate our first president; George Washington's birthday was Feb. 22, 1732. Although his parents wouldn't have thought so.

According to the National Parks Service,

By the Julian calendar, which was in general use in Great Britain and her colonies in the early 18th century, George Washington was born on February 11, 1731/2. March 25th (the Feast of the Incarnation of Christ) had earlier been celebrated as the start of the New Year, but Washington’s contemporaries celebrated that holiday on January 1. The year, then, was expressed 1731/2. On December 31, 1751, Great Britain officially switched from the Julian to the more widely accepted Gregorian Calendar. Switching to the Christian or Gregorian Calendar required the addition of 11 more days to the year 1752, and retroactive redating moved Washington’s birthday back to the familiar date of February 22, 1732.

School districts are closed Monday, Feb. 20. Some districts are taking the previous Friday off as well. Check your school district's calendar to be sure.

Image via National Parks Service.