# Last week of (public) school **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 12, 2019, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-week-of-public-school/835421 "2019-06-12T12:55:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2019, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-week-of-public-school/835421/1 "2019-06-12T12:55:50Z")
My kid finished his last middle school final exam last Friday, and yet the kids still have a full school day scheduled on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and a half day on Thursday. What the heck are they doing in class after a final exam? In college the entire semester rose to a crescendo ending with The Final Exam. Then class was done. Evidently, that’s not the case with public schools. Any teachers out there know what’s the deal with that week or partial week following final exams? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2019, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-week-of-public-school/835421/2 "2019-06-12T13:36:17Z")
My wife’s middle school is doing end of year activities, including their “moving on” ceremony for 8th graders heading to High School. The other kids are seeing their classrooms for the next year and meeting some of the teachers. They also have special activities for the kids, including meal where everyone brought in dishes from home. And they have some regular classed, even after final exams, because learning isn’t always dictated by testing. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2019, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-week-of-public-school/835421/3 "2019-06-12T17:51:10Z")
Possibly, turning in books and other borrowed equipment, administrative outprocessing, and saying goodbye to friends for the summer. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2019, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-week-of-public-school/835421/4 "2019-06-12T17:52:40Z")
They’re getting in the number of days required by state law. They probably had the final exam a few days early so it could be graded before the end of the semester and final grades issued by last day. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-week-of-public-school/835421/5 "2019-06-13T00:55:21Z")
As **Procrustus** said, there are a mandatory number of days required. The exams were probably scheduled months ago, written in scholarly stone, as it were. If there were any snow days or teachers’ strike days to make up for, they probably tacked them on and decided not to move the exam dates to those days. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-week-of-public-school/835421/6 "2019-06-13T02:37:15Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > They’re getting in the number of days required by state law. They probably had the final exam a few days early so it could be graded before the end of the semester and final grades issued by last day. This exactly, I remember the final week involved turning books back in, clearing our stuff out of the classroom, a picnic lunch, short films, and playing Duck, Duck, Gray Duck. (And no, you can’t correct me, these are my memories! :)) ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2019, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-week-of-public-school/835421/7 "2019-06-13T05:30:11Z")
I remember a litany of movies in high school after AP exams finished. My AP Statistics teacher literally handed someone the TV remote one morning, said, “If you’re looking for the World Cup, it’s channel 42. I will be in my office if you need anything,” and walked out. We didn’t see her again for the rest of the period.