When do your kids start school?

[goofy4tink]

Welp, for the first time in almost 40 years, I have no kids starting school this year!!! It's really kind of sad for me. I'm going to miss running out to Staples to spend a small fortune on notebooks, pens, etc. My oldest is 44, my 'baby' graduated from college in May. Remember to enjoy these days while you can...they do tend to slide away when we aren't paying attention!!

 

[sweetpeama]

July 1 since we home school and that's the date we can start counting the hours required. We school year round though which for us translates to some shorter days where within reason as long as it is educational it counts. I even count watching Disney Movies if they watch in a foreign language, give an oral critic or review or even write about one of the characters.

 

[BLAZEY]

DD7 just finished June 29, and she goes back the day after Labour Day. Victoria BC Canada

 

[Runnergal]

Wednesday after Labor Day. NYC catholic school.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

My apologies! As an educator I love chatting with other teachers throughout the country about their schools and classrooms.

Maybe a should start a thread on schools/classrooms as the topic, in order to stay on topic in the thread. I'm sure things will follow over there.


Signing, a very amused party who is not an educator

Oh, and for being on topic: My son goes back to school 8/16. The teachers are required to report 8/9. My son's orientation is 8/12.

 

[debster812]

DS will be going into his sophomore year in college. He has transferred universities, and will be playing soccer at his new school. Normally, he would be moving in on August 29th, and classes are starting on Sept 2nd. However, he plays a Fall sport, and he has to report to pre-season on August 19th

 

[Melissa_E]

Aug. 2 for students. I start July (yes July) 27. I keep chanting, "I'll appreciate this in October when we have two weeks off."

 

[DawnM]

Aug. 2 for students. I start July (yes July) 27. I keep chanting, "I'll appreciate this in October when we have two weeks off."

I would LOVE that schedule!

 

[Melissa_E]

That isn't true everywhere in the US. Our district has 185. Each state and/or district sets their own number of days.

The district I was working in, I worked 163 days with kids and had only 3 pupil free days per year. None of them were prepping the classroom though. They were all in-service days.

I'm in Colorado, our calendars go by hours not necessarily by the amount of school days. Elementary students need 968 hours, middle and high schoolers need to have 1080 hours. School districts generally need to have 160 school days in the calendar. However, we have a lot of rural school districts which have been allowed to maintain the hours required, but fewer school days because they use a four day school week to save on gas money for their buses.

Several other people mentioned teachers getting into school without a custodian. Again I'm in "what's a union?" Colorado, I have a key which allows me entry into the building and I do have a security code to enter as well. I did find out that there are some black-out hours when it comes to the key entry. I ran a ski trip and wanted to get into the building before 6am but they electronic key wouldn't let me.

I would LOVE that schedule!

It is nice once we get into it, but man is it hard right now saying that I have two more days of summer vacation.

We do get normal days off, PD, Labor Day, etc... but I won't list them all here
Aug. 2- first day of school- first quarter goes until Oct break
Oct. 9-22- October break- second quarter goes until Christmas break
Nov. 20-26- Thanksgiving break
Dec. 18-Jan 2- Christmas break
Third quarter goes until Spring break
March 19- April 1- Spring Break
Fourth quarter goes until the last day of school
Last day of school is the Friday before Memorial Day.

 

[THEDISNEYTHREE]

.

 

[sweetpeama]

Now that I am on the computer and not my phone I can post a longer reply
While My kids are home schooled. Public schools in my part of Montana go back this year sometime the week of the 22nd. This is due to the State Junior Livestock Show being later this year because of how the month falls and the fact that it is always the first weekend following the first Sunday in August through the following Saturday. This puts the fair at the dates of Aug 12 (sneak peak night so only the animal barns, sales booths and rides are open along with food. Closed are non livestock 4-H exhibits, school art, adult and open youth gardening, sewing, canning, art, ect but you only pay half price), through the 20th. Most schools are starting sometime either Wed or Thurs so that the teachers can enjoy the fair as well as many of them have families showing.
On years that the fair dates are more in line with last years which was the 7th-15th schools tend to start as follows
Class C schools (less than 250 students in the high school) Wed of the week following the fair
Class B (roughly 250-500 students) and Class A (500-1000 students) along with traditionally K-6 and K-8 only districts The Following Monday
Class AA (over 1000 students) On Wednesday though lately the K-6 and K-8 only districts are using this as a start day because some how in the past 15 years or so they have lost the ability to think for themselves on schedule and curriculum (even before Common Core and NCLB, Goals 2000, ect enough said not discussing more to keep on topic) and have to follow exactly what the larger school district that over 90% of the students will attend when they grade out of that district leaving the only difference being smaller class sizes.
The homeschooling group in my area has what they call a kick off each year on the day that the largest district in the area goes back. This is a time to have one last fun time before a lot of places close for the summer and to get information on various classes and the different co-ops. These tend to start the week after Labor Day or even the following if it is a Monday group.
Public Schools and to some extent the private schools here tend to have 2-3 days off the end of the 3rd week in Oct of Teacher Convention but only the ones that are members of the State High School Athletic Association or districts that feed into those schools. The ones that belong to no association (mainly monistory schools) and those who are part of the State Christian Athletic Association do not. The number of days off depends on what part of the state the meeting is in that year. Most give a half day Wed through Fri for Thanksgiving, They get out for Winter Break sometime from the 21st-22nd (half day that day) and go back the 2nd most years except last because they realized no one was going to show up for Friday classes and have the weekend. Spring break has been MIA for at least 15 years if not longer and they get out either the Friday in May or the first Friday in June depending on the district. Luckily as long as you avoid testing dates most schools don't say too much if you pull your kids for a vacation provided they don't miss more then 10 non school related days per semester (sports and music trips through the school don't count) and the work is made up and you don't do it every year and it is really discouraged for high school students. The good news is in exchange for not getting a spring break and getting a really short Winter Break (I live in the same area I grew up in and we got out the entire week before Christmas) they get half days 2-3 times a month usually mid week so the parents have to arrange child care unless their jobs are flexible on hours. The really annoying thing with this is we are in a high agriculture area so while mom and the younger kids can take a quick vacation to someplace within a days drive for 3-4 days the men and the teenage boys over the age of 14 or 15 are needed to take care of the family business. (Someone did not think this one through very well if you ask me). If they said no pulling your kids out of school for family vacations well let's just say we would have a high chance of getting national media attention from the pitch fork riots that would happen.