Thanksgiving Break at School- What's Your Norm?

I think the whole week off is a horrible idea. The kids already have so many days off that it disrupts their schedules. My daughters are required to attend school on Thanksgiving, as they are in band and participating and performing at the football game is a graded event.

I know many, many districts that have the entire week off but they make it up on the front or back side of the school year. There are a certain number of days they must have school. One district can't pick 140 days and the other 180 days.

We live in Dallas and most of the schools here are closed the whole week. I actually like it. It's nice to have time to do holiday things with the kids the years we don't travel and nice to have the extra time with family the years we do!

I live in Tampa and our school district, Hillsborough County, does give the whole week off. It started a few years ago as a way to save money. Most students weren't coming anyway and the district was able to save TONS.
It is a nice break :>)

My kids are off the whole week - and my husband took the entire week off as well. We don't have any plans other than to sleep late and stay in our sloppy clothes as much as possible!!!

Our kids are off Wed-Fri. I hope it doesn't turn into a full week, because our kids get 2 full weeks at Christmas. I do like Wednesday off though. I still work half a day if I can get a sitter (I normally do) and then in the afternoon we start cleaning, cooking, baking, etc. We love it!

I think teachers are the most under-appreciated people out there. But I am jealous when you all get snow days, summer, all school breaks etc. But, I also know it is one of those where just because you're at home doesn't mean you aren't doing things. A good friend of mine is a hs biology teacher and she always has papers to grade when we are at dance with our girls. :). Thank God for teachers because I don't have the patience to have that career!!!

I hope they don't get more time off. They have professional development days off, holiday breaks, mid-winter breaks, snow days, summer break, etc. I would love to see the school year extended not because I don't want my kids home, but because I think that we as a nation need a more highly educated work force to be able to compete with other countries who are turning out better educated people than we are.

when we lived in CA (last year) my kids always got the whole week off. I just found out here in VA that they only get Thursday and Friday off and that's it. I'm a little shocked that that's all they get.

I am in Plano (northern Dallas burb).

Our school is in session Mon and Tuesday and everyone is off Wed-Friday.

Teachers deserve the breaks they get. I've been teaching over 10 yrs as a sub and running our company. Teachers have a lot of deadlines, deal with tons of different personality types and do it well... Kudos to any teacher...

I teach when the teachers are in the In-Service training and conference times mostly.

A lot of kids are taken out for Mon-Tues to go visit families, etc. I know there are several of my daughter's friends (11th grade) who left this past Friday to use the time for college visits.

We have the entire week off. Our school district has done that for the last 3 or 4 years. I guess they decided that not much got done on Monday and Tuesday and with quite a bit of kids taking off those 2 days for family trips, that closing down the entire week made sense. We usually pulled our kids out those 2 days so it works for us.

No, not the entire week off, for Thanksgiving!
Schools have "Winter Break" and Fall Break. That is at least a week long, each, in my area. Schools have to have a certain number of school days, too.
Thanksgiving here, they get Thanksgiving day and the day after, off.

Yes, though....many students/families take the week off, despite even if there is school. But then, the kids have a TON of in-class work and homework... to catch up on and do... even if they do take the week off.
And the Teachers, then have to prepare that students 'homework' for the entire week to take home and do. Unless the kid just comes back to school the next week, and THEN, catches up on all the lessons/in-class work and homework, that same week... as well as still getting that week's in-class work and homework, to do, as well. In tandem.
For upper grades, it is a lot more homework.
Okay rambling here. But so that is why, we never take our kids out of school, when school is in session. And just plan around the school's calendar... of breaks.

We are off all week. We had a minumum day (off at noon last Thursday) off Friday and now off all next week..... heaven!!!

I teach high school in a district near where I live, and will be teaching on Monday and Tuesday. My children go to school in the district where we live, but not where I teach. They get the whole week off. Just for the record, I'll be spending Thanksgiving break grading 91 Senior themes. At least the Junior themes don't come in until December 6.

My son's school is off the whole week! I do not like it personally. It only "works" for us this year because we happen to be sick and he may not be going to school Monday again anyway. I rather kids in school up until the Wed/ or day of Thanksgiving personally. It is too hard on the parents to find childcare when they work for times like thanksgiving. Now, if the school were open as an afterschool type program that may be worth looking into but otherwise I do not like it.

All the schools in my area are closed for the entire week.
It's been that way for years.

I'm a single working mother so other than Thanksgiving Day, I don't get any time off. I could take Friday off as the office will officially be closed, but I need the hours.

Have a good Thanksgiving.

My son has the entire week off as well.
Added: my sons school did not have fall break, this is the first extended time he's had off since school started, so yes I'm excited to spend time with my boy:)

I know a lot of people are goign to hate me for my opinion but I am going to give it anyways.

I think that havign 1 week of for Thanksgiving is absolutely RIDICULOUS! Sorry the kids get to much time off of school to begin with! As for the grading papers and doing other work on the time off that is what happens when you work out in MANY jobs. You can be a Chemist, Biologist, VP, Accountant, ect. All those jobs plus more have to work 40+ hour weeks to meet their deadlines. I know many who average for a whole year 50 hours a week when they are not taking their vacation time. Mind you these same people also only get anywhere from 10 to 25 days vacation and if you work where I do you get 5 OA days and 11 holidays off a year. So the Normal person with a job that requires Salary Exempt get maximum of 8 weeks off a year. So I really do not feel sorry for any teachers who get in my area 16+ weeks off a year and tha ti snot including their Snow days.

Parents who take their child out of school when they are required to be there and are not sick is part of the problem that we have in this country with the generations work ethic getting worse and worse!!!

I respect teachers for the job they have but it is hard to empathize with teachers who complain about being at school and to see them begging for snow days is an issue. They have it WAY BETTER then any other profession in my opinion. This is also a PROFESSION THEY CHOOSE! I have actually had my son's teacher ask us parents to be teacher helpers by stapeling papers and so on to help her out. As a parent I have no problem doing that and I have no problem ensuring my child does their homework and address any misbehaving in class. But I can tell you right now I have never seen the kids get so many days off. How are children to learn what a work ethic is if everytime you turn around they get a day here or a week there?

Opinion: School should be year round and there should not be 12 or so weeks off during the summer. HECK there should not be 4 or more weeks off during the school year!!!! The time to teach children work ethic and what will be expected of them when they grow up is to give them year round school where it is like a job. They should have 8 hours a day, 5 days a week with 11 holiday days off, Perhaps a long weekend or Maximum 1 week off every 12 weeks through out the year and a maximum of 4 weeks off during the summer. Say either Mid July to Mid August or perhaps just July off.

Again, I appreciate teachers and some will probably say with what I wrote that I do not but the point is that Our Children's work ethic is going down and our children are BEHIND compared to other countries. The biggest way to help that out is 1) more time in school, 2) Less Administrative interferrence, 3) Parent Involvement (yes I support parents needing to sign a contract saying that they will do what they are suppose to do to help the child) , and I can go on and on about some of the academic programs (ie Everyday Math) that could be changed.

I want to add before everyone flames me that I have spent a good deal of MY OWN MONEY to send extra supplies like Crayons, Pencils, ect to my son's class so that the teacher did not have to spend her own money. So I support the teacher just not all the BS time off that the school gives them off!

Off topic but 12 weeks off in the summer?! Crazy!! Being brought up and schooled in Great Britain we had 6 weeks off in the summer and that felt like a long time - 12 weeks is too much and the first month back at school is relearning all the stuff the kids forgot over the summer.
In the UK the kids get a week off for half term at the end of Oct since we don't celebrate Thanksgiving, a week or 2 at Christmas, a week in Feb, 2 weeks around Easter and a week at the end of May. School lets out for summer around July 23rdish and goes back the first week of Sept. Wish it was like that here.....

My son gets Thursday and Friday off (Montessori kindergarten). I would find any more really difficult - I have work all week and would need childcare. He has the week between Christmas and New Years off - really tough to cover.

My son's school had 3 days off at the beginning of Nov.
Mon. 11/7 (end of grade period),
Tues. 11/8 (voting/conferences) and
Friday 11/11 (holiday)

next year the days will span 2 different weeks...
for Thanksgiving they have 1/2 day on Wed. so that it can count as a full day if they serve lunch. We don't travel for Thanksgiving, so a full week off for us would not make sense.

It would be nice if the moved Fall Break to this week but it is really too close to Winter Break to even consider it. I think it could be fun to take the week off anyway, if we could afford it we could go somewhere warm and beachy.

I got the whole week off in college, which was a pain since you couldn't stay in the dorms, so I missed a week of work since I had to go home. The public school district where I went to school and the district we're in now only get Wed-Fri off. I'd rather not have the entire week off. I'm a single parent and only get Thursday and Friday off. I'd rather save my vacation for Christmas than spend it on the week of Thanksgiving.

I wish my son had the whole week off - or a day or two of the following week. I'd dearly love to join our family for Thanksgiving. They live on the other side of the country. It's a 5-6 hour flight and the whole trip ends up costing more than a mortgage payment! Needless to say I don't want to rush it. Some year I will just take him out of school I suppose.
Instead he is off for a whole week in February AND and whole week in April, that of course, does not line up with my school's spring break, sigh...

eta - I'd like to see him have that week off *instead* of one of the other breaks.

My oldest in in kindergarten and has the entire week off. Although it is a nice break for him, this costs me more money for childcare so that I can work. He is staying at his aftercare program on Monday and Tuesday. I am taking Wednesday off...

Ours have off, well at least the elementary kids do. That's when we do the parent/teacher's conferences.

I HATE days off from school. We ALL benefit when our son is in school. I'd PAY EXTRA for him to go on SATURDAYS if I could.

Well... KINDA on topic...

My professor says that any college that has school on the Wed before Thanksgiving has it's head up it's... er...bum. So she will "show a movie" and not take attendance on the 23rd. She'll still BE there, in case anyone shows up and reeeally WANTS to watch the movie (she's paid to be there), but for the REST of us... I'm NOT taking attendence, and the film will NOT be on any of the tests.

Thank you, Dr!!!

:D

________

I can get behind year-round k12 schooling (with 4 weeks off in between every quarter) and I can get behind SUMMER break going back to 12 weeks. What I CANNOT get behind is all the supid half days and 4 day weeks (random 4 day weeks. not like the first week of every month, but 3 weeks one month, 1 week the next, 2 the month after that, 0 the month after that, 3 the month after THAT) and early dismissals every 3rd tueday, and all the dinky little 1 & 2 days off to "make up" for a SIX week summer. Lameness. EXPENSIVE lameness (since the ridiculous schedule leaves parents in the lurch for $50 for a half day or $100 for a full day off... and dinky short little summers, and the sheer chaos and pandemonium all the little breaks create.

We have the whole week off, too, and the week before that they get dismissed at 12 for parent teacher conferences-PAINFULL!