In the district where I teach, today is the first day of school for students.
(Teachers, counselors, others started last week. Principals, custodians, some of the office staff have been working all summer.)
Today is July 23.
I grew up in New Jersey, where school always started after Labor Day. (We have mid-quarter parent conferences the week before Labor Day now.)
School in July was summer school.
All schools around here start by mid-August (and mid-August is pretty late), so I’ve had plenty of time to adapt to August not being the summer any more.
I still struggle with July.
Teacher friends in other places (both locally and out of state) haven’t started yet, and that feeds into my struggle.
Because we’re on a modified year-round schedule, we have a two-week break in October, at the end of the first quarter.
I would much rather have two weeks off in October than have a summer two weeks longer. Partially because it’s nice to have a brain break. Partially because the weather is somewhat nicer then. Partially because going out of town in October, places aren’t crowded like they are in the summer.
So to feel okay about having the school year rolling already, I’m thinking about how nice it will be to have fall break. How it’s worth it to be in school now, seeing as it gives us two weeks off in October.
Which means I start the year looking ahead to our first break.
Which is not a good mindset to be in.
And yet … 48 school days until fall break.
(For the record, our district calendar says how many days are in each quarter, so on the first day, it’s easy to know how many days are left. Also, I looked it up just for this post, though I’m sure I’ll remember it for a couple of days.)