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My older daughter starts August 21 (community college). My younger one, September 8 (private high school).
Our local school district starts on August 24, and there is a lot of talk about moving the start back towards the beginning of August. I am not a fan of these ever-earlier start dates. The only reason I have heard for them is that an earlier start allows for high school students taking Advanced Placement classes to have a few extra weeks of study time before the tests in April. So fine, let those students start early then. Why should all kids down to kindergarten start early because of a few high schoolers?
Actually, my preference would be for summer vacation to be tailored by the school district to suit the prevailing weather patterns and other factors. In some regions, May and June are the height of summer. Here in SoCal, they are not. When our kids get out of school in May, weeks go by before it's even warm enough to enjoy a day at the beach, while September is typically one of the hottest months. It would make a lot more sense for summer vacation here to be July-September, than May-July.
Just an FYI since your district may differ, but it's not just AP classes. What really drives it is all the standardized tests which are given in April. Everything the school does is focused on getting kids ready for those ding dong tests because school rating (and administration's, teachers', etc) are all based on those tests. So they start early to basically get what used to be a full school year in before the tests. May becomes basically a blow off month where they don't do any new learning once the tests are over.
Just an FYI since your district may differ, but it's not just AP classes. What really drives it is all the standardized tests which are given in April. Everything the school does is focused on getting kids ready for those ding dong tests because school rating (and administration's, teachers', etc) are all based on those tests. So they start early to basically get what used to be a full school year in before the tests. May becomes basically a blow off month where they don't do any new learning once the tests are over.
That certainly seems like a boneheaded plan. Why don't they just move the tests closer to the end of the year?
That certainly seems like a boneheaded plan. Why don't they just move the tests closer to the end of the year?
The state sets the dates. Different districts react in different ways. Our's chose to move most instruction earlier. They also spend a good bit of time on test taking techniques and practice tests. During the test week they do everything they can to minimize distractions. All other instruction stops. They serve free breakfast to all students. Rewards. Everything focuses on the kids doing well on those tests.
Just an FYI since your district may differ, but it's not just AP classes. What really drives it is all the standardized tests which are given in April. Everything the school does is focused on getting kids ready for those ding dong tests because school rating (and administration's, teachers', etc) are all based on those tests. So they start early to basically get what used to be a full school year in before the tests. May becomes basically a blow off month where they don't do any new learning once the tests are over.
I certainly saw this in our previous school district. Days off during the Spring were only given very sparingly. And basically the whole month of May was useless -- I found it kind of irksome - I mean, there was almost no point to the kids even being in school, because every day was some special day -- outdoor day, carnival day, movie day, etc. It was kind of ridiculous.
School where I live starts August 7. Way too early. Ends May 25. That puts the mid-point of summer at JUNE 30. JUNE is early summer, not the mid-point! Even so, winter break starts December 20, and they have to go back to school January 4. All in the interest of keeping the semesters evenly long. Surely there's some way to make uneven-length semesters work, maybe by offering the "easier" classes in the fall and "harder" classes in the spring, fewer breaks during the fall semester (students aren't "burnt out" yet), shortening the school year by 5-10 days, or doing fall final exams in late January?
June, July, and August are the months considered "summer", and summer break goes for 2 1/2 months. So what we have now is students going back to school with nearly a third of summer left but getting out during late spring. I graduated in 2011, after this crap had already started. I hated having to go back to school while it was still nearly the height of summer. It never made sense to me.
Late August seems like the perfect time to go back to school. August 21/22 - June 8 would be a nicely balanced calendar with a summer midpoint of July 14.
I would be in favor of a state law forcing public schools to start after August 16, the mid-point of August, so that students got a majority of August off, and ending on or before June 15.
My university starts August 22 (the 21st is eclipse day) and ends May 11. The mid-point of summer is July 2, so they got the month right. But it's a vast improvement over the K-12 schools, if only because we get all three summer months off including most of August.
Colorado here. School in our district tends to start mid August and end before Memorial day weekend. I cant remember but I'm fairly sure they got W-F off for Thanksgiving, 2 weeks for winter holidays, and 1 week off in March for spring break. I thought the schedule was good. By May students are getting "spring fever" anyway and looking longingly out the windows; by August the summer is starting to get old. As far as longer Thanksgiving holidays, I think thats a response to many students being out anyway. Families are much more mobile and often don't live close enough to extended family to just drive over for Thanksgiving dinner so it takes more time to have a family event.
I have to admit that I don't quite understand the "its too hot to go to school" argument. As a Northeasterner I know what a PITA it is to get kids to school during the winter.
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