Is Thanksgiving getting longer?

[-]

fernandez21@reddit

Growing up we had wed-fri off, but my kids have had the full week of for years now.

[-]

BlueStar78inNYC@reddit

I went to Catholic schools in NYC, and traditionally we had school on Mon/Tues/Wed, but it was a half-day on that Wednesday where we'd have Thanksgiving Mass.

[-]

PenguinGoose115@reddit

Where I live, the public schools get the whole freaking week off. Growing up we got out midday Wednesday.

[-]

PorkChopS8ndwiches@reddit

I only had Thursday and Friday off. I’m jealous of the full week my kids get.

[-]

chypie2@reddit

yeah they got an extra day usually it's thurs/friday off. You're not hallucinating, lol.

[-]

ThisIsACompanyCar@reddit

Attendance is low the week of Thanksgiving. It makes more sense for many districts to just give those days off.

[-]

When I lived in Pennsylvania, the first day of deer hunting season was given as a holiday because historically almost nobody would show up that day including teachers. Sometimes it's just easier to not fight it.

[-]

kgrimmburn@reddit

My local districts do a teacher's in service that day. The in service might actually be held in a field weating hivis but no one asks questions.

[-]

penchick@reddit

Still is, my kids are post Wednesday through Monday for Thanksgiving/ deer season debut

[-]

austex99@reddit

In Texas, we would get off for a week during the stock show and rodeo. My husband grew up in Louisiana, and they got off for the week of Mardi Gras.

[-]

Tricky-Comfortable66@reddit

I live in Louisville, and all the schools close the Friday before the Kentucky Derby, or Oaks Day. The district doesn’t even bother trying to fight it

[-]

paintedwoodpile@reddit

This is true. I remember it being on the elementary school lunch calendar. CLOSED MONDAY - HUNTING SEASON with a picture of a buck.

[-]

NighthawkCP@reddit

Yea that was part of it for my school where I grew up in more rural eastern NC. Hell I was in high school when Columbine happened and a classmate got busted for having a hunting rifle on a gun rack in the back glass of his truck that Fall. He'd been out deer hunting before school that day and left it in his truck, which hadn't been an issue before, but he got reported for having a gun in his truck which was parked on campus. He got suspended for the rest of the year over it and did not get to walk at our high school graduation. Dude was a bit of a douche but definitely wasn't a school shooter kind of guy and got railroaded.

[-]

SlartiHarleyBartFast@reddit

This is true, but it depends on where in the state you are. Happened in one district I worked in that had a decent rural population. I’m close to Philly now and that’s not a thing in my current district.

[-]

bitsy88@reddit

That's true. I was in Southwest PA right near the West Virginia border so definitely rural lol.

[-]

hot_mess_express13@reddit

I've always lived in BFE WV and we've had the entire week of Thanksgiving off bc of hunting season as long as i can remember. No teachers, students, or bus drivers would be there otherwise. People from urban areas don't always realize this is how some rural folks eat during winter

[-]

Narrow-Lengthiness-9@reddit

I live in northern Michigan and the school districts up here have a built in "Family Fun Day", or some such, built into the school year which corresponds to the start of rifle season.

[-]

lavasca@reddit

My school gave us a ski week because most parents took their kids skiing. I’m from southern California.

[-]

lisette729@reddit

Yep still is. My kids have been half days Monday through today and are off Thursday, Friday and then Monday next week.

[-]

pogulup@reddit

Where my dad taught for many years the whole week was always off because everyone went deer hunting. The parents would just pull their kids out of school if they didn't.

[-]

SweatyRefrigerator95@reddit

Sent my son to the grandparents for the week to hunt. Touch grass? Touch grass

[-]

pogulup@reddit

Freezing your ass off in a tree stand for a week builds character.

[-]

ProtectionExact8985@reddit

seems like every holiday just gets longer and longer, what’s the deal with that

[-]

whereisbeezy@reddit

Is that why? Because I definitely went to school until noon on Wednesday.

[-]

ThisIsACompanyCar@reddit

I also went through Wednesday. And some districts still do. But truly it’s a financial thing. And I do believe parents are more likely to do their own thing now and disregard the school calendar more than when we were kids.

[-]

irishprincess2002@reddit

It does I know a lot of churches in my area, I live in the Bible Belt, cancel their midweek services or hold them on a Tuesday because so many people are either traveling or trying to prepare for the next day. It used to be they would never cancel except bad weather. A lot of youth organizations have shut down any activities also due to low attendance.

[-]

bassman314@reddit

Especially since some states won’t allow a district to “count” that day if attendance is below a certain rate.

[-]

Allureme@reddit

My kids are off all week. Ones in public and the other in private.

[-]

gooch_norris_@reddit

I’ve been feeling this year like it’s getting shorter. Not like the actual break people take but like pop culture wise… maybe it’s dumb but it’s like stores already have Christmas music playing and all the snow decorations out. As soon as Halloween was over everything became Christmas. And every commercial is all about Black Friday this or that but like the entire month of November is now Black Friday… like the actual holiday part I feel like is fading out and it’s a bummer

[-]

bistro223@reddit

I could be wrong but it seems to me the death of Black Friday began the year Walmart decided to open their doors on Thanksgiving day at like 5 I clock or something. After that everyone started doing these "early Black Friday" sales to the point where Black Friday is now meaningless.

[-]

FlySecure5609@reddit

Everything was Xmas September 1st here. Halloween was fully set up in June.

[-]

pug_fugly_moe@reddit

Same feeling. It bothers me in large part because I fucking love turkey and it doesn’t get enough respect. But also, what happened to taking things one step at a time?

[-]

uncertia@reddit

For the first time ever I have Thursday and Friday off for Thanksgiving for work. Oddly we only get one day off for Christmas… feels like those should be switched

[-]

Consistent-Ad-6506@reddit

Uh…I taught HS in the 00s and we always had a week off.

[-]

Elevenyearstoomany@reddit

My school started doing the full week off with Monday and Tuesday being conferences in late elementary or middle school. High school we had Thursday and Friday. My kids k-8 school did the whole week this year for the first time, usually they had Wednesday-Sunday.

I think Wednesday is a travel day for any family who goes out of town so schools just started accommodating it.

[-]

SidFinch99@reddit

Yes.

Parents asked for linger Thanksgiving break so it was possible to travel. Essentially many districts have moved to a longer Thanksgiving break, and slightly shorter winter/Christmas break.
It was believed the longer break would be beneficial to students and staff. Less burn out.
Certain funding is tied to attendance, so if even if it's an excused absence at the Parents request because they want to travel to see family, it can hurt a school districts funding.
Much like added religious holidays, if a lot if students are goingbto miss, that's not a good thing it's better to create a school calendar that reflects this, and minimizes absences.
Most states still have mandatory minimum number of school days, so they aren't getting less school, usually it means slightly shorter summer and winter breaks.

[-]

RonWill79@reddit

My wife is a teacher. A couple years ago they added 15 minutes to each school day to give more breaks during the school year. The slightly longer days allowed them to add a 1 week fall break (like spring break), a full week for Thanksgiving and few other off days scattered throughout the school year, all without sacrificing total instructional minutes or making the school year longer.

[-]

BunnyButt24@reddit

Growing up if I remember correctly it was Thursday and Friday. But I do remember November having more days off then the other months due to Veterans Day, parent/teacher conference days, voting day, Thanksgiving.

But yeah, I was surprised when I found out my son's preschool is closed Wednesday-Friday.

My daughter's daycare was open today though 🤷🏻‍♀️

[-]

BeaniePole1792@reddit

I guess this depends on what state. In FL, my kid gets the whole week off. Though when we went to PA, they didn’t. It was weird to see kids going to school and me and my kid was going around town.

[-]

ohmeursault@reddit

Interesting I grew up in Florida and only got Thursday and Friday I moved to CA and kids here get the whole week

Maybe it changed over time everywhere

[-]

BeaniePole1792@reddit

Maybe it’s county dependent. Like my kid doesn’t get veteran’s day but the county next to us gives it. Also, in my HS, I would get the Jewish holidays off.

[-]

maceilean@reddit

It's district dependent. All schools in your state will have the same number of instruction days a year. 180 is typical. Some states have more, like Kansas, have more. Some states, like Colorado, have fewer. Whether they put the days off in summer or have week long breaks in the fall are up to the district.

[-]

landatee@reddit

I'm in Florida and it was reported on the news this week that there was just one county in Florida that had school this week; the other 66 counties took the whole week off.

[-]

DameKitty@reddit

My son's kindergarten is off Thursday and Friday only.

[-]

Impressive-Cod-7103@reddit

I feel like we only got Thanksgiving and the day after off of school when we were kids but I’m also old enough that I don’t trust my memory.

[-]

0215rw@reddit

My kids have always had the entire week off for 15+ years. It’s called “fall break”.

I only got Thursday and Friday.

[-]

luvisgreaterthanfear@reddit

Must be differ district to district these days. When I was a kid it was ALWAYS just a four-day weekend no matter where we lived, it seemed.. However my son, gets Wednesday to Friday off. Only one day extra for him.

[-]

sunshineparadox_@reddit

As an adult I get Wednesday off. I can’t really mock my kid for it if I want my grown up day off too.

[-]

sunshineparadox_@reddit

Mine is off all week, but 1/3 of the kids in the district missed the week before. It makes sense given people are afraid anyway. We live near Charlotte, NC and are having similar problems here. Make with that what you will.

[-]

danbob411@reddit

Same here. I got the whole week off as a kid too, as far back as ‘93, ‘94.

[-]

jojocookiedough@reddit

Mine have the whole week off this year. First time for us. They used to just have an early day on Wednesday. It's kind of nice, but at the same time we never travel for Thanksgiving anyway, so it feels kind of wasted. Even if my husband could get time off of work, travel costs are inflated this week so we'd never choose to take a vacay this week.

When I was a kid we always traveled to my cousins, so I'm not actually sure if I officially got Friday off! Might have just been Thursday.

[-]

Pale_Row1166@reddit

We always had weds-Thurs off and a separate fall break

[-]

nope-its@reddit

More and more parents started pulling their kids out of school for the whole week.

A lot of school districts had to give in to those parents because teachers couldn’t move forward in teaching materials. So now school years start earlier to make up for it.

[-]

Gonna_do_this_again@reddit

I think fall break started like 3 years after I was out of high school and felt so ripped off.

But that district also switched to a year round schedule around that time so thankfully I had real summers.

[-]

MundaneHuckleberry58@reddit

Where I live we have a separate fall break (2 weeks in October) then Weds through Friday off for Thanksgiving is Thanksgiving break. And to OPs question, yes if has gotten longer. When my kids started school it was only Thursday & Friday. A couple years back they added Wednesday because of historically low attendance that day.

[-]

MorganFairChildCare@reddit

Uh mine have the whole week off AND a fall break in October. I sweat they never have a full week of school.

[-]

anuncommontruth@reddit

Yeah I always remeber having the week off, and my tenants kid is off all week this week. I thought that was normal.

[-]

chargoggagog@reddit

We’ve always had a half day on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, never had this day off tho.

[-]

Calculusshitteru@reddit

Yeah this is what I remember as well.

[-]

Second_City_Saint@reddit

Same here. 3rd grader had the whole week off with conferences Mon/Tue.

[-]

Glittering-Station78@reddit

I always remember being off on Thursday and Friday. I’m sure a lot of kids would’ve been absent if there was school on Friday.

[-]

Relative-Gas-1721@reddit

We used to have a half day on Weds, off Thursday and I think off Friday.

[-]

ClutterKitty@reddit

Mine have the whole week off, and thank goodness they do. I don’t know how I could clean and prep for Thanksgiving if I also had to do morning routine, school drop off and pick up, homework, laundering of school, clothes, nightly baths…

Letting their sleep schedule get all wonky, letting them skip baths, and having them feed themselves from whatever frozen food they can microwave has saved my sanity.

[-]

Swimming-Squash-3573@reddit

My kids are off this entire week. I never had a full week off for Thanksgiving break, even in college.

[-]

professorpumpkins@reddit

That’s wild. I remember flying home from college on Wednesday. If we had classes that day, only classes that met before noon were held.

[-]

professorpumpkins@reddit

We always had a 12pm release on the Wednesday, but it seems like it’s now the Tuesday. My preschooler was released at 3pm today which worked for me. Tuesday is now the big travel day, which is weird to me, but here we are. So yes, the week is getting longer!

[-]

fumbs@reddit

It's longer to make up for attendance and because summer is shorter.

[-]

sanityjanity@reddit

You didn't get *Friday* off when you were a kid?!

When I was a kid (Gen X) we always got Thursday and Friday.

My kid gets the whole week. The teachers do parent/teacher conferences on Monday and Tuesday.

[-]

pedestal_of_infamy@reddit

I worked in the schools 10-15 years ago and there was no school the week of Thanksgiving. I was contracted and I don't recall if some of those days were planning days for teachers.

[-]

SenseAndSaruman@reddit

My kids have the whole week off.

[-]

Shabbadoo1015@reddit

From Boston. I recall we always had the half day Wednesday, with Thursday and Friday off. However, my grandmother usually kept us home on Wednesday anyways as we really never did anything school related anyways. It was always movies. I assume attendance was always low that day anyways. So it makes sense why it’s now a day off as well.

[-]

derango@reddit

I was always off wed-Friday for thanksgiving.

[-]

Alarming-Wonder5015@reddit

Thanksgiving break has always been the week of thanksgiving where I’m from.

[-]

forgetfulsue@reddit

My kids had early dismissal today (Wednesday), so for us no it’s not. I wish it were longer, like Wednesday off, since we live at minimum 6.5 hours from family.

[-]

zonie77@reddit

My son has the whole week off. It makes more sense since a lot of the people here in Phoenix go out of town for Thanksgiving.

[-]

guyincognito121@reddit

When I lived there, the entire block pretty much cleared out over the big holidays as everyone went back to Chicago, LA, NY, etc.

[-]

Yourcarsmells@reddit

Anoka-Hennepin (District #11) largest in the state, was off all week.

[-]

Sausage_Queen_of_Chi@reddit

I’m pretty sure I had Wednesday-Friday off.

[-]

ketamineburner@reddit

My kids are adults and always had the full week off when they were young.

[-]

MrsCharismaticBandit@reddit

My daughter always has the whole week off but I recall having the same. My mom confirmed on our district (I still live in the same area) they have always done a week.

[-]

blondeviking64@reddit

My school (im in education) and my kids school are off the whole week. My wife's school (also in education) is only off wed-fri for Thanksgiving.

[-]

Insomniac_80@reddit

I remember the days when professors would give out answers to the finals on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving!

[-]

metalheadswiftie13@reddit

American Thanksgiving makes no sense to me. It’s so close to Christmas. Canadians have it correct in October 😂

[-]

Tiny-Reading5982@reddit

It starts the Christmas season though. People start decorating for Christmas the day after usually. Halloween is a big deal to a lot of people so Thanksgiving in the middle of October would mess all that up. Plus its hot in October...no thanks lol.

[-]

metalheadswiftie13@reddit

Plus its hot in October

Not in Canada, it's not lol

[-]

Tiny-Reading5982@reddit

In the us. Lol. Even though today was like 74 🤔😂

[-]

kg51113@reddit

Really depends on which part of the country you're in.

[-]

Perfect_Mix9189@reddit

my kids have always gotten the whole week off

[-]

MC-KODIAK@reddit

My kids get the whole damn week off. Fortunately they're old enough to trust home alone these days.

[-]

feedyrsoul@reddit

My thought is that, as extended families live farther and farther apart, people need Wednesday to travel. They're probably trying to avoid low attendance or needing subs for teachers who want to visit family out of town

[-]

Economy-Camp-7339@reddit

My kids district is off the whole week. As I kid it was just the Thursday/Friday. Of course work hasn’t caught up with this so I get to take PTO to be home with them.

Love this system.

[-]

butfirstdecafcoffee@reddit

I had two (!) days this month that my kids all had full days of school. This is getting ridiculous.

[-]

cmajka8@reddit

We always had a half day on Wednesday and closed Thursday/Friday

[-]

GrungeCheap56119@reddit

Most families probably pull their kids out of school for vacation, so the schools closing saves money. No, we never had these many days off when we were little. Basically it's every adult we know struggling for child care for a week.

[-]

red_raconteur@reddit

This has been us this week. My kids have the week off but my husband and I don't! I have Thursday and Friday off, my husband just has Thursday. We have to pay a babysitter more than I make per hour because I don't have any PTO days left and I'm not allowed to take time unpaid.

[-]

Munchkin531@reddit

When I was a kid we only got off Wednesday through Friday. Then in high school we git the whole week. It was awesome having that much time off.

My kids and all the schools around me have always gotten the entire week off. I think it must just depend on your school district.

It would have been nice to have the kids in school a few days. I'm hosting 30 people and still cleaning 🫠

[-]

Bubbly-Stretch8975@reddit

My son is off ALL WEEK. So stupid. I need time to cook and clean with my music blaring and not have other small children coming and going so he’s not staring at a screen all week. My daughter is off W-F and my step kid is off Th, F, and next Monday. I think some places have Monday off bc it’s the start of gun season for deer. Pretty sure we were only off Th and F. It wouldn’t surprise me if our kids now are actually in school more hours overall though.

[-]

Separate-Relative-83@reddit

We had minimum day Wednesday before Thanksgiving then Thursday thru Sunday off. I work in schools and we are off the whole week.

[-]

FiveTaken@reddit

My kids have a half day where they don’t learn that counts towards their 180. Better to have Wednesday off.

[-]

often_awkward@reddit

My university had thanksgiving week as our semester (quarters/trimester) until 2000. I was split and it's amusing meeting younger alumni that don't know why they still get the week of thanksgiving off.

[-]

Sweaty_Pianist8484@reddit

Yup my nephew had no class this week. Optional

[-]

PuppyJakeKhakiCollar@reddit

No, it's definitely getting longer. When I was a kid, it was a 4 day weekend (Th-Sun). Now the kids in the state where I went to school have the entire week off. So 9 days. Winter breaks seem to be getting longer too. As a kid, break started on Christmas Eve and ended New Year's Day. Now it's like 2 weeks off sometimes.

[-]

imnottheoneipromise@reddit

My kid is off all week.

[-]

ThemanfromNumenor@reddit

Yes! My kids are out the whole week! I never got more than 2 or 2.5 days

[-]

brilliantpants@reddit

My daughter has off the entire week, plus the following Monday!

[-]

larryjrich@reddit

I remember being a teenager in high school in the 90s in California and I could have sworn we had Wed-Fri off.

[-]

TradeBeautiful42@reddit

My son’s preschool had turkey camp last year. This year they’ve got Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off.

[-]

FarmerMom1943@reddit

We were off Thursday and Friday when I was growing up. My kids are in 5th, 8th and 10th, and they’ve always been out Wed-Fri, until last year. Now they’re out all week.

[-]

moondaisgirl@reddit

This is the first year our school district took the whole week off - usually "early release" on Wednesday and off Thursday/Friday. BUT the Spring Break at Easter is only Thursday/Friday/Monday, so I think they just moved the days around.

My daughter is in her 1st year of college and super annoyed that she had class Monday and Tuesday while her brother was home, but I reminded her that she has a month for winter break.

[-]

trexcrossing@reddit

I love it. Bring it on.

[-]

No_Today_4903@reddit

My youngest is my only one left in school now! He’s off today-Monday. When I was in school we got thurs and Friday I’m pretty sure. They get a fall break here too which is a 4 day weekend. We never had that growing up.

[-]

FoppyRETURNS@reddit

Wednesday to Friday here too. The neighboring town had school though. I was stuck behind the bus. 🙃

[-]

caramelcoldbrew@reddit

My middle schooler is off from W-F this week and my elementary kiddo is off the entire week, save for a conference meeting. It’s so strange to me since I only recall ever being off on Thursday and Friday.

But yeah, kids nowadays get a lot more days off than we did when we were young.

[-]

jbergman420@reddit

We always got off the Monday after Thanksgiving for the first day of deer season.

[-]

Blackbird136@reddit

My area was closed Thurs & Fri when we were kids.

By mid-00s it was Wed-Fri. By mid-2010s, it had gone to all week.

Summer break is getting shorter and shorter because of this stuff. The last year I taught school (2016), the first day back for teachers was in July. 🤪 I think it’s a couple weeks later again now.

[-]

notsosecretshipper@reddit

We were off on the Wednesday most years, too. We used to go to the great-grandparents in Tennessee every Thanksgiving and we'd leave on Wednesday morning. It was a 6+ hour drive and we never traveled on Thanksgiving day.

[-]

foozebox@reddit

Yea what the hell

[-]

superfizzlibrarian@reddit

In Massachusetts students only have Thursday and Friday off.

[-]

yayoffbalance@reddit

Fall break, here. Elementary school has the week off (i think the state does, to be honest?), so does uni for students and profs. Staff does not get the week off. Now it's Thursday and Friday for us, used to only be Thursday. I cannot at all recall what it was when i was in school. Honestly, whenever i wasn't in school, i was probably working anyway from 15 on up...

[-]

Ok_Researcher_9796@reddit

They definitely added a day. I sure didn't get a 5 day weekend back in the 90s but my kids did.

[-]

XennialDad@reddit

When I was growing up, we got the whole week, even in college. My kids have a whole week now. They'll get 2 full weeks for Xmas/New Years as well.

[-]

On_my_last_spoon@reddit

I taught at the college level, and if I had a Wednesday class I learned to just cancel it. No one shows up.

Now the school just doesn’t hold classes on Wednesday because of this

[-]

_WeSellBlankets_@reddit

We definitely had Thursday and Friday for sure. Not sure about wednesday. The school was empty the beginning of the week though because deer hunting season was very big where I was living in Northern Wisconsin.

[-]

violetstrainj@reddit

We always got out early on Wednesday. They served dressing, green beans, and apple crisp for lunch and we had thanksgiving assembly in the cafeteria, and watched a movie. Then we had Thursday and Friday off.

[-]

MushroomAdjacent@reddit

I'm in college, and I get no days off, which sucks because this is the first year I've ever had Thanksgiving plans of my own.

[-]

nola_mike@reddit

Schools have always had the entire week of Thanksgiving off in my area.

[-]

bcentsale@reddit

My district 25+ years ago was TF. A hundred and some odd miles away in my wife's, which is where we live now with our kids, has always been WTF, even when she was going. I kinda think the extra day is nice in that it allows for a travel day pr a day to prep for inbound family. 🤷

[-]

Much_Cardiologist180@reddit

It took me way too long to figure out what TF and WTF meant in context.

[-]

bcentsale@reddit

That was intentional 😁

[-]

juniper3411@reddit

I read WTF as the other abbreviation lol. It took me a second hahaha.

[-]

bcentsale@reddit

That was intentional 😁

[-]

Scissorsguadalupe@reddit

I remember being off as a kid for the whole the week, and my mom who was a teacher was off starting on Tuesday

[-]

Zeke688@reddit

Conferences in high school is a cool idea, we don’t have that where I live. I hope it helps with parent involvement.

[-]

NicolasNaranja@reddit

I grew up only having Thursday and Friday, my kid had a half day last Friday and the whole week off.

[-]

SaladAnnual@reddit

My kids have been off all week. Two teenagers so for me it’s a vacation too, because waking them up and getting them out the door on time every morning is a part-time job. We got Wed-Fri off when I was a kid.

[-]

Fantastic_Honey_7425@reddit

My kids get so. much. time. off. It’s three days for fall break in October, a week at Thanksgiving, two and a half weeks at Christmas, at least three days for Mardi Gras (Louisiana, of course) and a week for spring break. I have no idea how they meet state minimum, if those even actually exist anymore.

—Me, an old lady yelling at clouds

[-]

t_bone_stake@reddit

I hear that. There’s places in NY that have the Jewish holidays (Rosh Hashana and Yum Kipper), some sort of Hindu holiday, Lunar New Year, among others.

[-]

NoOccasion4759@reddit

My district has always had the entire week off, and i love it. Trust me, the teachers love it too, October and November can feel like gruelling march up a mountain.

[-]

t_bone_stake@reddit

Childless myself but my two school aged nephews have tomorrow and Friday off and my sole niece (in a neighboring district within the same town) has off starting today.

[-]

Drslappybags@reddit

By getting longer do you mean in the past decade?

[-]

Stunning_Radio3160@reddit

Ugh I feel you. My son has the whole week off. As a kid I got half day Wednesday then Thursday and Friday obviously.

[-]

EastTXJosh@reddit

Class of ‘97 here. I remember getting Wednesday through Friday for Thanksgiving break from kindergarten until about third grade. From that point on, even in college, we got the full week of Thanksgiving off.

My kids have always been off the full week.

[-]

olduglysweater@reddit

Whole week in my county, can't wait for it to be over lol

[-]

CokBlockinWinger@reddit

Most districts have parent teacher conferences at the beginning of the week. Instead of having teachers cram those in at the end of full days when the kids are restless knowing a break is coming up, a lot of districts started just giving kids off.

[-]

goofytigre@reddit

Kids get the whole week off around here. It's kind of a fall break.

[-]

paintedwoodpile@reddit

We were off 1/2 day on Wednesday and then off until the following Tuesday. Monday was the start of hunting season so we had off for that. I know my kiddo had SO MANY built in snow days just in case.

[-]

ahoypolloi_@reddit

Half day on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday off.

All I ever got for Thanksgiving was a half day on Wednesday.

[-]

DrDarcyLewis@reddit

The kids had a half-day today, off Thursday and Friday. It's been the same in this area since husband & I were kids. We're in Jersey and the kids have only one full week of school this month 🤷‍♀️

[-]

junepath@reddit

When I was a kid it was Thu-Mon and now it’s Wed-Mon and the first day of school in August is now on Tuesday instead of Wednesday.

[-]

drewcandraw@reddit

Lucky you. My kid’s school has the whole week off.

[-]

Adrasteia-One@reddit

It's been the full week for my kid since she has been in school. She is in day camps the first part of the week when the wife and I work, but otherwise it's fun for all of us to be off.

[-]

Planetofthought@reddit

Yes, we used to only get Wed-fri off for Thanksgiving. We also used to not get MLK day, presidents day, or veteran's day off.

But, we also got 3 months off for summer break. Summer break for elementary students doesn't start until the very very end of May and school starts back early August. We used to be on summer break by May 10th and didn't go back until the first week of September.

[-]

Top-Wolverine-8684@reddit

We were always out Wednesday through Friday growing up in the 80's-90's, and my kids have always had the full week off. Now two of my kids are in college, and they only get Thursday and Friday, which they think is CRAZY! 😂

[-]

AdelleDeWitt@reddit

We've got the whole week off. Honestly, thank christ. We have been in school since early August with just Veterans Day and Labor Day off. I needed this whole week to have 3 days to get all of my to-do list on that I've been putting off for months so that I could host thanksgiving. By the time we make it to Thanksgiving break we are moving like zombies and everyone is cranky and sick.

[-]

EffectiveCycle@reddit

The HS across from me was off today. The two I drove past on my drive to my dad’s house were both in session.

[-]

OwnLobster1701@reddit

My kids just get Thursday and Friday.

[-]

tweedchemtrailblazer@reddit

My son had fall break like 5 weeks ago and now another full week off for Thanksgiving. I certainly never had that time off.

[-]

juicefarm@reddit

Breaks are longer across the board now in my area. That's why school starts earlier. To accommodate for the longer breaks

[-]

Spartan04@reddit

That had to suck if you only had Thursday off. Even when I was in elementary school we got Thursday and Friday. I also remember some years in middle or high school we got a half day on the Wednesday before.

Back then I remember even school districts next to each other didn’t usually have the same break schedules and everyone did it a little different. Nowadays I think they coordinate their breaks together.

[-]

Verbull710@reddit

I'm school in the 90s we had more days off in November than December

[-]

qtjedigrl@reddit

We always had half day in Weds off. When I started teaching, it was a full Weds off. Now it's the whole week

[-]

GuanoLoopy@reddit

The timings are just different for breaks from what you had, I'm guessing you're just in a different area than you had school. What you need to look at is days in school, which is usually around 180 days per school a year. You can jigger the days around however you want but you're still in school the same amount of days so does it matter?

Also it will be highly variable by region. Some states in the US start as early as late July and others after Labor day so that will affect what districts decide is right for them on when to take breaks. And it'll also be influenced by other neighboring public school districts too, there's probably not much difference between two next door towns, though some private or religious schools may vary much more than public schools.

[-]

drainbamage1011@reddit

My kid gets the whole week off in middle school this year, which feels weird because he just a had a week-long fall break back in October. Grade school always did a week for fall break and then Thanksgiving/Black Friday off.

[-]

No_Proposal7812@reddit

Same here. I can't figure out the fall break so close to the whole week of Thanksgiving off.

[-]

Appropriate-Neck-585@reddit

5 days off for one dinner?! I think the Teachers are worn out from y'all bad ass kids 😆

[-]

No_Proposal7812@reddit

My kid is out all week. They also had a fall break just a few weeks ago. I get Thanksgiving day off work. Thankfully my kid is in high school now and I don't have to save my PTO for yet another school break, or take him to work, or figure something out.

[-]

grayandlizzie@reddit

My kids only have Thursday and Friday. My 10th grader stayed home because today though because it was a "community engagement day" with no academics. There were movies and snacks and social activities. He's autistic and didn't feel like a social day.

My 4th grader went to school but it was a half day

[-]

Beberuth1131@reddit

It's a big travel holiday, more so than Christmas. My daughter goes to a private school and gets the whole week off, but I actually don't mind it. It makes it easier to plan everything out.

[-]

amopdx@reddit

Students are off all week, we have two 12 hour days for conferences on M/Tu

[-]

keto_and_me@reddit

When I was a kid we had 1/2 days mon and tues, off wed-mon. The 1/2 days were because of conferences, and the Monday after thanksgiving was because we’re in a big hunting area and that’s the 1st day of some kind of season.

[-]

Possible-Tangelo9344@reddit

It's been three days off as long as I can remember, even when I was in school.

[-]

whitecastlebites@reddit

My step kids are off for the week. They get a week off every 6 weeks and 2 weeks for Christmas🤯🤯

[-]

cmgww@reddit

Out kids get Wed-Fri off. I really don’t care about that one in particular, I think we got just Thursday and Friday off back in my day.

What I really get upset about is the excessive breaks throughout the school year, a ridiculously short summer break at least here in Indiana where the kids are going back in early August… and a freaking week for fall break! They’ve been in school for like two months, they don’t need a week off. The entire balanced schedule thing is all about test scores, and I hate it. Because test scores don’t indicate intelligence.

[-]

Scrotchety@reddit

Your kids are probably going to attend 180 days and have 185 days off like everyone and everywhere else if it's an American public school. What you lose during the school year can always be regained from summer vacation and vice versa

[-]

ryhoyarbie@reddit

I teach high school. Been off all week. Been like that for quite some time.

When I was a kid, we would go a full day Monday and a half a day Tuesday and be off the rest of the week.

[-]

Intelligent_Pass2540@reddit

I have a 9 year old hes had the ENTIRE week off! We never had a week like this.

[-]

Expensive-Day-3551@reddit

I feel like we just had a half day on Wednesday before thanksgiving, but my kid has the whole week off.

[-]

mobtown_misanthrope@reddit

We were definitely off the Weds-Fri. A lot of kids didn't come in the days before because travel.

[-]

Throw-away17465@reddit

Our district was extremely skimpy with time off. We had Thursdays off, and at least through sixth grade, half days on Fridays-after, until they eliminated them.

Christmas Day was off and a half day for Christmas Eve. School for the week between Christmas and New Year’s. New Year’s Day is off, but no other time off for the holidays.

However this is a really religious area, so I wouldn’t be surprised if those rules had loosened in the past 25 years.

[-]

OrangeAugust@reddit

I remember being off either W-F or Th-F. When I was really young we used to get a whole week off in February, and then by the time I was in middle school we got only a 4 day weekend instead

[-]

UndoxxableOhioan@reddit

Only for kids. I don’t even get Friday off at my office job.

[-]

fixxer_s@reddit

My son is off all week. Now, they also do not have a 'Winter Break' like I did OR a 'Spring break' for Easter, as that is a weekend anyway. They also are done the 1st week of June. I was out the last week of June.

gif

[-]

PilotC150@reddit

My kids were in school Monday and Tuesday this week. They have a ridiculously long Winter Break (last day of school is Dec 19th and they're not back until Jan 5) and Spring Break is 6 days off school (Friday plus the whole following week).

Their last day of school is June 4th.

What they've started doing here is grouping the "Staff Development Days" and "Data Analysis Days" with the other days off. So there are fewer three day weekends, but the other breaks are longer, which gives families more time for vacations.

[-]

jachildress25@reddit

We only had Thursday and Friday off, but we also didn’t have school on the opening day of deer hunting a few weeks before.

[-]

Healthy-Neat-2989@reddit

Half day today for us. But our surrounding districts had today off.

[-]

sexyass2627@reddit

We always had Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off for Thanksgiving, and I graduated in 2003.

[-]

werdnurd@reddit

Last year my daughter’s school did Tues-Fri, which seemed so silly to me. If you’re going to take four days, just take the dang week.

[-]

No-Calligrapher3043@reddit

When I was in school we always had Thursday and Friday off, ever since my son has been in school they get the whole week off. I get it, I remember that being a week of the teachers rolling the tv into the classroom more than usual and a lot of my friends being gone because they went out of town to visit family for the holiday. If only I could talk my boss into giving us the entire week off too...

[-]

juniper3411@reddit

My kids just have Wednesday through Friday. Pretty sure we only had Thursday and Friday off when I was a kid.

[-]

Smrfet8@reddit

I only for Thursday and Friday.

My kids are out on noon the Friday before and off the whole week of Thanksgiving.

[-]

ATheeStallion@reddit

Thanksgiving break for our school district: 5 days. There has been a 4-day wkend 1x each month sice the year began. We also start 1 hour later 1 day each week for teacher planning.

[-]

Puzzled_Loquat@reddit

As a kid on LI we had Thursday Friday off. In PA we have the Monday after as well. My children have half days this week Monday-Wednesday. The district I work in, the students have half days Monday and Tuesday, teachers have conferences.

[-]

Smurfblossom@reddit

Where I went to school the break was always Wednesday through Friday. It wouldn't surprise me if more districts were shifting to a full week off because during the covid years there was so much screaming about how overworked everyone was, including school kids.

[-]

Traditional_Entry183@reddit

My kids used to have a half day on Wed, but they did away with most of those very recently. Now, they get Wed-Fri off.

When I was a kid, we only got THU and FRI. My kids also get a very long break over the holidays. Sometimes over three weeks. However, they also start school almost a month earlier than I did and end up going about four weeks longer every year.

[-]

queenofcaffeine76@reddit

All the schools in my area have been closed for the entire week of thanksgiving since 2021.

[-]

Klutzy-Delivery-5792@reddit

We never had Wednesday off. I think this is the first year my kids had it off. I grew up in western PA and we had the Monday after Thanksgiving off because it was the first day of deer season.

[-]

Weird_Squirrel_8382@reddit

My nephews in middle school had the whole week off. High school and college had exams Monday and Tuesday, off today.

[-]

SweetCosmicPope@reddit

When I was in school it was always Th/Fri, but as long as I can remember my son had the whole week off.

He's in college now, and he's been home since Saturday for his Thanksgiving break. Half of his classes cancelled last Friday, so he could have even come home then.

[-]

OrthodoxAnarchoMom@reddit

I only went to public school through 3rd grade it I remember being off Wednesday.

[-]

moarlo@reddit

My kid has been off all week. It’s been a long 3 days

[-]

Lorrainium@reddit

I only remember getting Thursday and Friday off when I was in school (Chicago). My kids have always gotten Wed, Thurs, Fri off (Central KY). So I dunno if it's a modern thing or regional. I'm a locksmith, my shop closes on Thursday only, but a lot of our vendors are closed Thursday & Friday.

[-]

Vash_85@reddit

We always had Thursday / Friday off even when I was a kid. Having Wednesday off was just the last few years for my kids schools as more families were taking their kids out of school Wednesday to travel.

[-]

the_owl_syndicate@reddit

When I was in school, it was only Wednesday to Friday, but about 10 or so years ago, the district I taught in started taking the entire week off. Every district in my area takes the entire week now. I'm a teacher (with no kids) and I'm not complaining about having the entire week off.

[-]

Far-Slice-3821@reddit

Absences count against the school and the district, so the more kids skip a certain day the more likely the district is to decide to preemptively close. My district and the teachers want to be open for about half the "inclement weather" days they call, but if they expect more than 25% of kids will be missing they don't bother operating.

My town switched from a half day Wednesday to Wednesday off after the nearby regional airport got significantly more flights.

[-]