Ok, so I’m a little bit confused. Can someone, or several someones, explain to me the US academic year. I’ve read on Blair’s blog all about the stuff she plans to do with her kids once all the offical school work is out the way, and I’ve read other places about school nearly being over, and it’s confusing me.
You see, in the UK the school year runs September to July, with most school having about six weeks off for the summer from the end of July until the beginning of September. That to us is the summer holiday. We have three terms - Christmas (Sept- Dec), Spring\Easter (Jan-March\April), and Summer (April-July), and the Easter and Christmas holiday tend to be 2 weeks long each. Additionly, each term there is a week around the middle of the term which is ‘half-term’ (original, right?!).
So how does it work for those of you who send their kids to school (sorry, can’t think of the official term) and what about those of you who homeschool? Thanks people 
Debs…ok here is the scoop. In the States our school year tends to run from late August till end of May or first week on June. That is the latest it ever runs. We usually get 2 weeks off at Christmas and a week in the Spring for spring break. Of course there are long weekends and holidays that include through out the year. There it is in a nut shell. So here in El Paso Texas my kids have 2 weeks left, they get out May 25 and will go back on August 27th. Hope that helps my friend!
Comment by Kellie — May 12, 2007 @ 7:52 am
This can vary from school district to school district. I teach in south Mississippi. This is the last week of school for our students. And they will start back to school the second week of August-around the 11th.
It usually ends up being an eight week holiday for summer. It used to be closer to twelve weeks (June, July, and August) but the schools keep adding holidays during the year so it has made the school year longer. In our area, we usually get three days off for Mardi Gras. But only schools in Southern Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana get those holidays. Some schools now have a one or two day break in the fall they call Fall Break. And we used to only get three days for Thanksgiving and we now get an entire week….so it can still depend on the region of the US as to when the actual start and end dates are.
My school district, and most of the ones surrounding us, go to school from August to May. We have two semesters. Christmas breaks them up. Each semester is divided into two nine week periods where report cards go home. There is not necessarily a break for the nine weeks although Spring Break often falls close to the end of the third nine week period. Some schools, like mine, have Spring Break lumped in with Easter. Other schools have spring break at a completely different time…
I can see how you could be confused.
So, here’s my question. Are all students in England at school or on holiday at the same time? Or do the breaks vary from school to school like they do here?
Comment by Bethany — May 12, 2007 @ 8:15 am
And another thing…. in our school district in South Carolina (although I homeschool) there are two different calendars. A traditional calendar and a year-round calendar. The traditional calendar is much like the ones already mentioned and the year round calendar has 3 week intercessions 3 times a year and a long I think 5 week intercession in the summer time. People choose their schools here based on the calendar. It causes problems for families with multiple children because the high schools are all on the traditional calendar and you may have a 2 children in school and 1 off etc. etc.
char
Comment by Charlotte Cushman — May 12, 2007 @ 10:38 am
It also seems the West Coast has a little bit later school year. Kids our here start in September and end in June. This year with all the storm days - we had flooding, power outages and snow (which we rarely get) They won’t get out until around June 21st. But normally, I think it’s around June 10th.
Growing up in Iowa our school year was late August to mid May.
But I know there has been discussion about changing the school terms with shorter breaks during the summer. Some teachers feel the kids loose too much over a long summer break and they have to relearn old stuff the first few weeks in the fall. Educational philosophies can be interesting.
Comment by Anita — May 12, 2007 @ 12:49 pm
Educational philosophies CAN be interesting! I hope we never go to a schedule with no summer break. That’s one of my favorite things about teaching.
I think some kids lose a lot over summer break, but I also think it depends on the families/homes they come from. Kids who are read to, participate in conversations with their parents, and are exposed to lots of experiences (whether their own or through literature) rarely have a difficult time with the first few weeks of school. But in families where kids rarely interact with adults, and are exposed to little new experiences, well, that happens.
I don’t know if year round school years would be the answer though. Besides. I LOVE summer break! Love it! I don’t know how people get their houses clean when they have to work all year!
Comment by Bethany — May 12, 2007 @ 1:21 pm
Are all students in England at school or on holiday at the same time? Or do the breaks vary from school to school like they do here?
Well, sort of. There’s some variation, usually depending on when Easter is and half term can be different in different LEAs (Local Education Authorities). The summer holiday is pretty much the same everywhere. Schools finish near the end of July, are off all August and go back sometime at the beginning of September. (except Scotland, where they finish earlier in July and go back mid to late August).
Comment by Bekki — May 14, 2007 @ 3:15 am
Some local authorities have now switched to having even length terms and so if Easter falls early say they work through it apart from the 2 public holidays that everyone gets and then have a spring break. This has caused problems for some teaching colleagues who work in one place and have kids in a different local authority so they have hols at differernt times.
The private (fee-paying) schools tend to have shorter terms and longer holidays. But our standard summer is 6 weeks unlike the nearer to 3 months that some of you seem to get. Teachers still think that children lose ground over the summer though.
Another thing we have and I am not sure you get is INSET (Inservice training) days where the staff have to go to school but the chidren don’t. Schools set their own timetable for when they take these. Some working parents dislike these as it disrupts their childcare arrangements.
In case you wondered people do homeschool round here as well and the numbers are growing. However I think it is still uncommon.
I think that everyone needs a break sometimes, children and teachers. Speaking as a teacher the breaks are never long enough. Most teachers I know work very hard most of the time and are always having extra things to do thrust on them usually by well meaning politicians. We can never win as everyone is quick to blame teachers but not so quick to praise them. Most teachers are in it becasue they want to help kids learn and are dedicated to doing what whatever it takes. For most its not a job that you leave behind at the school door as it involves planning and marking in evenings and weekends. Sorry will stop ranting now.
I have come into teaching late and by the back door really as I work with small groups of special needs kids. I have never been a class room teacher. As far as I can see the ones in my school are doing a great job under tremendous pressures.
Comment by elly — May 14, 2007 @ 2:49 pm