A friend of mine (in Boston) was just telling me that, apparently, schools now have a weeklong vacation in February. Huh? What’s that all about? Do they still have Spring Break around Easter?
Yep. A weeklong break in February, and another in April. I think it’s overkill myself, and I certainly don’t remember such a thing from my childhood (though I could be forgetting). On the other hand, my kids go to school until about the third week in June, which we never did.
Around here, it’s a ski vacation. The way it was explained to me was that families were taking the time off to go skiing anyway*, so the schools decided not to fight it. They extend the school year to make up for it.
*Parents these days seem to be a lot more permissive about that stuff than when I was kid!
Where I grew up we had a weeklong school vacation in February every year. It usually fell around my birthday, so I figured that’s why they did it. I deserved it, after all.
I think NYC just started giving “Presidents week” vacation to solve a budget problem of having to pay teachers too much. IIRC, this started under Giuliani. (Trying to find a cite, but not yet able - will update if found.)
Growing up in NY we had the week off in February too. It used to be the Florida trip for the rich kids so they could come back with a tan. (I stayed pasty white). I don’t know if the public schools are off in February in Orlando as my daughter attends private school and they are not.
Nope.
I don’t know exactly what the OP defines as “schools”. Regardless, in Ontario universities have always had a “reading week” in February. High schools and the like always got a P.E. Day in February. (And like friedo, it always fell near my birthday and I always just assumed the powers that be were recognizing my contribution to society by giving school children everywhere a day off. Contributing to me believing this is that Ontario’s new public holiday, “Family Day”, is on my birthday this year.)
In Minnesota, my school district started it in the '70s, during the energy crunch. It was called “Energy Week” and the idea was that the district could save money by not having to heat all those buildings for a week. Then they discovered that it actually cost more to keep the buildings warm enough to not freeze, when empty, then it did to keep it at operating temp with all those students running around it.
We’ve always had them in England.
Term starts in early September, a week’s half-term in late October, then 2 weeks off for Christmas.
Spring term starts first week of January, then a week’s half term in mid to late Feb, then two weeks off for Easter.
Then summer term starts after Easter, a week’s half-term in May and finish in early/mid July for the summer holidays.
When I was in Germany, the schools on the base were on the Ontario curriculum, and for whatever reason we had two full weeks off; one in Feb-March and another at Easter (I think it moved around depending on when Easter happened to be). The schools I went to in Québec only had one spring break, and both the Friday and Monday at Easter.
It is entirely up to the school board to decide if they want a break or not. I seem to remember some private school in the area where I grew up had a week off at Thanksgiving, too.
IIRC, the only legal requirement, in Quebec at least, is that the “school year” consists of something like 182 in-class days, minus snow days. In areas with a lot of snow, such as where my mom works, the school board schedules 2 or 3 floating planning days, so if there is a snow day, one of those get moved from May (for example) and used up. If a floating day is not used as a snow day, it is used as otherwise scheduled. If the number of snow days exceeds the number of floating planning days, then the school day is just considered lost. There isn’t really a penalty, other than stupider children 
Me, too. I only ever had to go to school on my birthday once, and that was my freshman year of college – the next year it was on Saturday, then Sunday, then President’s Day. Of course, in elementary school that was no fun, because it meant I never got to bring goodies in on my birthday!
Now?! We had February & April vacations when I was a MA kindergartener back in 1982. When have you known Boston not to have school vacations in February, if the fact that they do currently comes as a surprise?
We also had February & April vacations in MA in the '60s and '70s when I was in school. (We got Patriot’s Day off in April, too.)
Generally Christmas break is just over a week, though, usually half day on Christmas Eve through New Year’s Day and back to school on January 2.
The OP’s friend in Boston is obviously a new arrival.
I used to live in Rochester new York and we always had “february break”. I heard that it was for the ski resorts. It was nice because we could travel places and they were a lot less packed with spring breakers or holiday travelers. But, like others have said, we had to go to school until the end of June, particularly if we had any snow days.
They always had a week’s vacation during February when I was in school ('70s-'80s) in suburban Boston. I always figured it was because it was around when we were most likely to have snow days. Since there were no other other holidays in the vicinity we might as well have the week off then.
We had mid-winter break in Michigan, or at least the part where I lived. We also started school the week BEFORE Labor Day. I guess it evened out.
This year, with Easter being so ridiculously early, some local authorities have had the good sense to abandon the “Easter=holiday” link and moved the two week break to a halfway point between the start of the spring term and the end of July, and just having a four-day weekend over Easter. This hasn’t happened here, though, so we’re going to get a horrible slog through a marathon summer term.
The Oakwood, Ohio schools always had that break the week of President’s Day. But then they’d also get out ridiculously late for summer - something like June 10 every year.
I grew up in PA (we got a 4-day weekend at President’s Day, plus a week at Easter) and he in Connecticut (same deal, I believe). He moved to Boston in college, and is only now, as a homeowner and member of the community-at-large, beginning to become aware of things like school vacations.