What does having so many breaks throughout the school year do to our summer break? Well, as expected, it shortens it. There are about 30 days of break throughout the school year in the Peninsula School District, not including weekends. These days off school include winter break, mid-winter break, spring break, and holidays such as Martin Luther King Jr. Day or Veterans Day. Public schools will close either the day of the holiday or, if the holiday falls on a non-school day, on a day throughout the week in which it takes place. Breaks such as winter and spring break are commonly one to two weeks. Winter break often includes Christmas and New Year, while spring break can be anytime throughout March or April.

Most states throughout America require 180 school days, but with the added breaks, school goes on for about ten months in the Peninsula school district, which makes summer break about two months. Private schools in Washington follow the same general schedule, though homeschooled students may have a more flexible schedule. Depending on a child’s guardian’s preferences, a homeschooled student may learn throughout the entire year (without a traditional summer break). With this, they are able to take longer breaks throughout the year for different holidays and vacations.

Some students’ families have financial limits that constrict their use of air conditioning. Making summer the best option for a long school break because, in the winter, a student may not get sufficient heating. If students had shorter more consistent breaks throughout the school year would they have access to enough air conditioning, and would families have access to child care throughout all of these breaks? Maybe with shorter more consistent breaks, schools could be open with heating and food for any families in need.

There is a lot to think about when deciding the lives of thousands of students around the country. You have to take into consideration the different lifestyles people live and how that will play into their education. Summer break could be a month longer, but at what cost? In the Peninsula School District, students get small breaks throughout the year helping them with the long school year. If they took these breaks out, all we would get is a month more of summer. Do you think that is worth the cost? If not, would you like the system to stay the same, or would you like to add even more school breaks throughout the year? After all, who said our longest break needs to be in the summer instead of spring, fall, or winter?

Image: Pexels. https://www.pexels.com/. 

“School Holidays in the USA in 2021.” World Schools, 1 Nov. 2021, https://world-schools.com/school-holidays-in-the-usa-in-2019-20/.