Community Chat

[sunshine45]

april 12th through april 21st is spring break.

this month they had off for MARYLAND DAY, the 25th, and will have off for PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY/EID AL FITR on the 31st.

[Grade1Teach]

Long Island -

 We start on April 12th and we return April 21st.

[Starpolisher]

Here in NJ, my granddaughters have Spring Break from, Friday, April 18th to Friday, April 25th. This coincides with Easter. 🐰🐣 Dh and I are taking them on a 7 day cruise to Bermuda! 🏖 🛳 They had a week at Christmas 🎄🎅🏼and a long weekend in February.🇺🇸

[Jaspersmom]

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@I am still oxox wrote:

I live in suburban NYC and kids here have already had two weeks off at Christmas, a week off in February and they will have another week and a day in the Middle of April for Easter/ Passover.

Wow when I was I was in school back in the "dark" ages we had Christmas and Easter breaks

What it is like in your area.

I don't know how old you are, but as a NY teacher, I can tell you these breaks have existed for decades.   The school year is set by the number of required days the state sets and other contractual obligations by each district.  All districts must have at least 180 school days, but most have contractual obligations that go a few days beyond that.  Most hover around 183.

A little history about the February break:

This started in the late 1970's when we had a major snowstorm that closed schools for a week and on top of that, the fuel crisis the country was experiencing at the time.  It was a way for schools to save energy costs.  The year of the big snowstorm (1977 or 1978), my district added on another week at the end of June because we had to fulfill the required number of days.

Some years schools are actually closed for two weeks at Christmas because of the way the holiday falls.  Most years, it's about a week plus a few days.  The Easter/Passover (Spring) break varies according to when the holidays are.  

What you may not know is NYS has made some dates new state holidays and schools must be closed, so districts have to be very creative with their calendars.  

Finally, many districts build in a couple of snow days and if they're not used by a certain time, those days may be added to another holiday.  Some districts add them to the spring break, while others add them to Memorial Day.  Many districts now try to avoid closing schools altogether when it snows and instead have a delayed opening.  Much of this depends on whether roads are clear and buses can get through.  Yep, it's all about the buses.  LOL. 

One last thing, sometimes a monkey wrench is thrown into the works, especially when some unexpected event happens.  When Hurricane Sandy hit, some schools had to unexpectedly close for days and days.  Some South Shore schools are located right near the Bay and were flooded out.  There was a scramble to find locations where these students could attend school.  The state can declare an emergency and those days may not have to be made up.  I'm not 100% sure of this, but I think that's what happened during Sandy. 

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[ScrapHappy]

My daughter is in college now and she already had her Spring Break.  It was March 10-14.  The public schools in my  area always has Spring Break as the first week of April.

[Estellee]

Spring break is now in South Florida

[Seminole2]

Here in Central Florida last week was one county.  The other county nearby was the week before. 

[Meowingkitty]

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@Desertdi wrote:

No "kids" in my neighborhood.    Mostly retirees, and younger working couples...

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Lucky you.

[KBEANS]

NYC  Monday April14 through  Friday April 18.

I can't wait! 

[nekodaisy]

I am near the Masters Golf tournament so all schools and colleges close down for that week and the following Monday. A lot of people rent their houses out for this event.