Teacher Appreciation Week runs May 3–7, 2027, with National Teacher Day landing on the Tuesday. It’s a five-day chance for students and families to say thank you.
First Full Week of May
Every year in early May, from the Monday of the month’s first full week through Friday. In 2026, it ran May 4 to 8, with National Teacher Day on Tuesday, May 5.
America’s PTA started the week in 1984. The National Education Association, known as NEA, set its own Teacher Day inside that week a year later.
No federal law fixes the dates. Schools, parent groups and teachers’ unions organize the events.
Murky Beginnings
Its earliest roots are hard to pin down. NEA’s Missouri affiliate calls the origins “murky,” and some claims of early state celebrations are unproven.
One story is well told. Around 1944, Arkansas teacher Mattye Whyte Woodridge began writing to political and education leaders about a national day for teachers.
She wrote to Eleanor Roosevelt, who persuaded the 81st Congress to proclaim a National Teacher Day in 1953.
It didn’t stick right away. NEA later joined its Kansas and Indiana affiliates, plus a local in Dodge City, Kansas, to lobby again.
Congress declared March 7, 1980, as National Teacher Day, but for that year only. NEA kept marking it in March.
Then came the move to May. In 1984, the National PTA named the first week of May Teacher Appreciation Week.
In 1985, NEA’s Representative Assembly followed, voting to hold National Teacher Day on the week’s Tuesday.
Why Thanks Matter
NEA’s slogan for the week sums up its view: “Great teachers make great public schools.”
Classrooms everywhere depend on them. In fall 2022, about 3.2 million full-time-equivalent teachers worked in U.S. public schools, NCES reported.
High school teachers alone held about 1,087,500 jobs in 2025. Their median pay was $72,040 that May, BLS data show.
Not every state follows the same calendar. Massachusetts marks its own Teacher’s Day on the first Sunday of June.
Pay is part of the conversation. The average U.S. teacher earned $74,495 in 2024–25, and new teachers started at $48,112, according to NEA data reported in 2026.
Those raises haven’t kept up with prices. Real teacher earnings fell nearly 5% since 2017 once inflation is counted, that analysis found.
State gaps are wide. California’s average topped $103,552, and New York’s was $98,655, while Mississippi’s was $54,975.
Starting pay varies just as much, from $64,640 in Washington, D.C., and $60,658 in Washington state to $36,682 in Montana.
NEA President Becky Pringle warned that “too many are struggling to stay in the profession they love.” Its toolkit urges communities to turn appreciation into action.
Ways to Say Thanks
Small gestures land best when they’re specific. Name one thing a teacher did that made a difference.
- Have your child write a note or draw a picture for a favorite teacher.
- Post a thank-you with #ThankATeacher, naming a teacher who shaped you.
- Join or help fund a PTA staff breakfast or lunch during the week, even with a small donation.
- Send a message to a former teacher you never thanked, even years later.
- Thank aides and specialist teachers too, from music and art to special education and reading support.
- Ask your school board to recognize teachers at its May meeting.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is National Teacher Day?
On the Tuesday of Teacher Appreciation Week.
Is Teacher Appreciation Week a federal holiday?
No. Schools stay open, and parent groups and unions lead it.
Who was Mattye Whyte Woodridge?
An Arkansas teacher credited with an early push for a national day, decades before it took hold.