How Long Is A School Year (And Why)?

Exact Answer: 175 To 180 Days

An academic year or also known as the school year is the complete period during which all the educational institutions like schools, colleges, and universities teach students and measure that time equal to how long the students have studied.

A school year starts from late from or from early winters and ends at the beginning of next summer or Autumn. The beginning and the ending month of a school year can vary from country to country. A school year can be from August to May, or September to June, or October or July, February to November, or, March to December.

How Long Is A School Year?

The period for how long a school year is differs depending upon the school level. There are majorly 4 levels of school, that are, kindergarten school, primary school, high school or senior school, and higher secondary school or senior secondary school. 

The kindergarten level of school is 400 hours to 500 hours long. Whereas, if considered half days for kindergarten level of the school, then it is about 200 hours to 250 hours long. 

The second level of school is the primary level which is almost double the kindergarten level of the school, that is, about 800 hours to 900 hours long. It is important to note that in this count, all the parent-teacher conferences, staff in-service programs, and other such programs are excluded.

Senior school level or high school level is about 900 hours to 1000 hours long. This length can also be said to be equal to a span of 180 days. 

Lastly, senior secondary school level or higher school level is about 1000 hours to 1100 hours long. This span is exactly equal to that of senior school level or high school level.

Why Is A School Year That Long?

All the four levels of schools majorly depend on the education level that is imparted to students studying in that level of school. In other words, as the child advances from a lower school level to a higher school level, the level of education is raised and the student gains more level of knowledge. 

The level of school can also be termed to be classified based on age group as well. The kindergarten school level is for students of age group from 3 years to 5 years. The primary school level is for students of age group from 6 years to 11 years. The high school level or the senior school level is for students of age group from 12 years to 15 years. Lastly, the higher secondary school or the senior secondary school is for students of age group ranging between 16 years to 18 years of age.

Apart from the level of schools, the length for how long a school year is depends on the place as well. In many states of the United States such as Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, and other states have the length of the school year is to be around 180 days.

Whereas on the other hand, in many other states of the United States, the length of a school year is either more than 180 days or less than  180 days. For example, in Arkansas, the length of the school year is 178 days, in Colorado, a school year is equal to 160 days, in Kansas, one school year is equal to 186 days, in Kentucky a school year is equal to 170 days, in Louisiana a single school year is equal to 177 days, and in Maine, one school year is equal to 175 days.

Conclusion

A school year can also be divided or categorized into multiple periods such as a semester, trimester, and quarter. A semester is equal to 6 months, a trimester is equal to 3 months and a quarter is equal to one-fourth part of the complete academic year. A single school year can either be divided into 2 semesters, or 3 trimesters or 4 quarters depending upon what criteria is followed in that country.

References

1. https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0022-0663.85.4.571
2. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/0034654310377086