# When did you start and end school? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 6, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-start-and-end-school/595418 "2011-09-06T18:35:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-start-and-end-school/595418/1 "2011-09-06T18:35:37Z")
I went to K-12 in Los Angeles in the '70s and '80s. I remember starting school in mid-September, probably the third Monday, and getting out in mid-June. Now I’m in San Diego, and it seems the kids start much earlier. I guess most public schools here started well before Labor Day, and they get out in May. Getting out in May sounds nice, but spending the dog days of August in a classroom? Ugh. School was bad enough without it being 40 degrees outside. (100 Fahrenheit to those of you who haven’t yet made the conversion to metric.) ---
**Author:** ![carlotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@carlotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlotta)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-start-and-end-school/595418/2 "2011-09-06T21:27:43Z")
I went to K-12 (and college for that matter) in Virginia in the same time period (70s/80s). I’m pretty sure when I was younger we started Tuesday after Labor Day and by the time I was in junior high we were starting in late August. Always got out sometime in June. I wonder why the shift to an earlier and earlier school year start has happened? I think it might be school districts trying to get the semester split to line up with Christmas vacation, so high school kids take their mid-term exams before Christmas and start the new semester in the new year? I live in North Carolina and I would just as soon the kids were in air conditioned school all summer. It gets so hot there’s really no joy in being outside. I would like to take our break over March, April and May when it’s so blissfully perfect outside that it’s a cruelty to have to spend any time indoors. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-start-and-end-school/595418/3 "2011-09-06T21:38:49Z")
I went to school in Minnesota in the 60s and 70s, and as far as I can recall we always started the Tuesday following Labor Day and finished up the first week of June. Very rarely, extra days were tacked on at the end to make up for any snow days called during the winter. Now it seems the kids always go later into June because they almost all ride buses to school so snow days are called more often and they have a minimum number of days they are required to attend. I don’t think we have many schools starting earlier than Labor Day, possibly because at least the kids outstate are still needed on the farms during harvest, but I do know of one small city that is experimenting with year-round school. They apparently have bought into the idea that knowledge falls out of the children’s heads over the summer break. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-start-and-end-school/595418/4 "2011-09-06T21:42:54Z")
My kids have the same school schedule I remember growing up, in the same school system: first day of school is the week of Labor Day, usually the Wednesday or Thursday following (this year it’s Thursday Sept. 8th), and the last day of school is near the end of June. Almost always June 28th, in fact (my daughter’s birthday). Those last few weeks of June were always the most annoying. Lots of private school kids were out already, sometimes by as much as two weeks, dammit! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-start-and-end-school/595418/5 "2011-09-06T21:47:55Z")
Can’t remember for my school. My daughter started August 15th and her last day is June 1st (private school kid - the public schools start a week later (August 22nd) and end a day earlier (May 31st)). During summer she goes to various educational camps at San Antonio Academy. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-start-and-end-school/595418/6 "2011-09-06T22:48:03Z")
I don’t think things have changed much here since I was at school in the 1970s. The public school year starts around the last week of January, depending on when Australia Day falls. It ends around the third week in December, a week or so before Christmas. Private schools tend to get longer holidays. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2011, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-start-and-end-school/595418/7 "2011-09-06T22:58:54Z")
As I recall my own schooldays, school started the Tuesday after Labour Day (same day here in Canada as it is in the US), and went until the end of June. But the start date seems to be changing; the kids around here all started school last week. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2011, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-start-and-end-school/595418/8 "2011-09-06T23:30:24Z")
K-12 in the 50s/60s. Ended in 1965. Sporadic college attendance over the next 15 years until a BA in 1980. Now doing home studies with [The Great Courses](http://www.thegreatcourses.com/greatcourses.aspx?ai=50625&cm_mmc=googleadwords-_-G.Brand%20-%20Great%20Courses-_-Great%20Courses-_-the%20great%20courses&gclid=CNPJ4tHiiasCFR9hgwodrX_J4Q), which don’t earn any college credits, but they are surprisingly thorough, interesting and accurate. Just finished 24 lectures on the Impressionist artists, given by a man who has been the curator of several museums and teaches at a university in Texas. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-start-and-end-school/595418/9 "2011-09-06T23:36:14Z")
School in New York state started the Wednesday after Labor Day when I was a kid and ended around June 21. AFAIK, it’s still the same schedule. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2011, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-start-and-end-school/595418/10 "2011-09-06T23:43:56Z")
We started school the day after Labor Day and finished before June 6. This was a parochial school in the Chicago suburbs in the 50s and 60s. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-start-and-end-school/595418/11 "2011-09-06T23:53:51Z")
Went to school in the 70s and 80s, we started after Labor Day and were out the first week in June. Summer breaks are much shorter these day. My son’s school started August 1, but they are out May 25. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-start-and-end-school/595418/12 "2011-09-07T00:08:44Z")
With the exception of 5th grade and a start date the last week of August, it was always the week of Labor Day to begin with or the Friday before if Labor day was as late as it can be and we got out during the second half of June, generally between the 14th and 23rd, snow days being the determining factor there. Where I live now, kids always start in August which is _weird_. Looking at the school calendar, the poor kids are scheduled 190 days instead of the traditional 185 (yes, I know the federal requirement is 180. NH does 185) too, so IF there are no snow days they get out June 19th despite starting August 30th. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-start-and-end-school/595418/13 "2011-09-07T01:15:26Z")
> [@carlotta](#): > > I wonder why the shift to an earlier and earlier school year start has happened? I think it might be school districts trying to get the semester split to line up with Christmas vacation, so high school kids take their mid-term exams before Christmas and start the new semester in the new year? That’s a big part of it. When I was a kid we started school the day after Labor Day took mid-terms two weeks after [del]Christmas[/del] winter break, and ended up finishing in mid-June. Start two weeks earlier and you can have mid-terms before break and finish by Memorial Day. When I was in college we switched calendars from a mid-September/mid-June year to a mid-August/mid-May calendar. The summer between them I lost four weeks of summer break and I was seriously pissed. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-start-and-end-school/595418/14 "2011-09-07T01:27:33Z")
When I was in school in Philadelphia in the 40s and early 50s, we started a couple days after Labor Day and went will late June. State law required 190 days of school in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, but only 180 days elsewhere, so that when we moved to the suburbs my younger brother and sister finished in early June. Here i Quebec, schools are required to have 180 days, but there are a dozen or so “professional days”. They go to June 23, the day before the Quebec national holiday. They used to start after Labour Day, but they moved earlier in order to accommodate a “ski week” at the end of February as well as a 2 week break around Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-start-and-end-school/595418/15 "2011-09-07T01:31:30Z")
> [@carlotta](#): > > I wonder why the shift to an earlier and earlier school year start has happened? I think it might be school districts trying to get the semester split to line up with Christmas vacation, so high school kids take their mid-term exams before Christmas and start the new semester in the new year?. That is exactly why our schools start in mid-August. We have a unit district, rather than an separate elementary and high school district, so finishing the semester before Christmas affects all grade levels. Also, one year the calendar tried giving the students the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off, and people loved it, so that means we start one day earlier than if they didn’t have that day off. The parents and kids really like having semester exams before Christmas. Of course they started that a couple years after my child graduated, so our Christmas breaks were spent watching her read the two novels assigned the day before break, writing the papers that were also assigned, and doing all the other homework assigned at the end of the semester. And lots was assigned, because after all, the kids had nothing but time in which to do it! ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-start-and-end-school/595418/16 "2011-09-07T01:42:13Z")
Upstate New York, 1974-1987. We always started the Wednesday after Labor Day. The end date depended on how many snow days we used during the winter. It was usually around the 20th or 25th of June. One year I remember it wasn’t until the 28th. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-start-and-end-school/595418/17 "2011-09-07T01:45:38Z")
East coast boarding school, early 70s. Started in early September, released between the first and second week of June. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-start-and-end-school/595418/18 "2011-09-07T02:12:28Z")
> [@Sudden\_Kestrel](#): > > I went to school in Minnesota in the 60s and 70s, and as far as I can recall we always started the Tuesday following Labor Day and finished up the first week of June. Very rarely, extra days were tacked on at the end to make up for any snow days called during the winter. Now it seems the kids always go later into June because they almost all ride buses to school so snow days are called more often and they have a minimum number of days they are required to attend. > > I don’t think we have many schools starting earlier than Labor Day, possibly because at least the kids outstate are still needed on the farms during harvest, but I do know of one small city that is experimenting with year-round school. They apparently have bought into the idea that knowledge falls out of the children’s heads over the summer break. Year round schools rock in some ways. Vacations get offset from everyone else’s vacation - which is really nice. You go to school just as much, but have three weeks off in October or something, another three in December, another three in March and three in August. But they can be very difficult if you want to play sports - because the other schools are on ordinary scheduled - so you have games over your vacations. Me - Minnesota 1970s and 80s. We started before Labor Day, but when I was in high school the legislature stepped in and now schools can’t start until after labor day. The cited reason I recall was the State Fair and the inability to get high school kids from the city to work the mini donut booth if school started early. (The rural kids didn’t start until after Labor Day anyway due to the farm calendar, but they don’t work the mini-donut booth, they are too busy with their sheep). My kids started today and go until early June. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-start-and-end-school/595418/19 "2011-09-07T02:56:38Z")
I started grade school in the 1960s in West Texas. I’m pretty sure I remember it starting in early September, and we definitely always ended in mid- to late May. But my universities – in Texas and Hawaii – always ran late August to mid- or late May. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-start-and-end-school/595418/20 "2011-09-07T03:33:41Z")
I started kindergarten in the Fall of 1966, and gradated from Columbia College in May of 1983. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-start-and-end-school/595418.md?page=2)