NoVA counties Fix spring break to one consistent spot in the school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I HATE that Easter is the last day of spring break. That needs to stop. We drive a long distance to my parents' rural home for Easter (flying takes longer and we would need to rent a car too). I always spend all of Easter on the road driving home, essentially missing the holiday. Easter should be the FIRST weekend of the break.

This is how the small Christian school my nieces and nephews go to does it, but it's not particularly common.

Most people don't travel for Easter, though. I personally prefer to celebrate at my own church rather than be at my in-laws.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I HATE that Easter is the last day of spring break. That needs to stop. We drive a long distance to my parents' rural home for Easter (flying takes longer and we would need to rent a car too). I always spend all of Easter on the road driving home, essentially missing the holiday. Easter should be the FIRST weekend of the break.

If the break is tied to Easter it should be the week AFTER not before especially since Good Friday is considered to be a serious day the way Yom Kippur is for Jews.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I HATE that Easter is the last day of spring break. That needs to stop. We drive a long distance to my parents' rural home for Easter (flying takes longer and we would need to rent a car too). I always spend all of Easter on the road driving home, essentially missing the holiday. Easter should be the FIRST weekend of the break.

If the break is tied to Easter it should be the week AFTER not before especially since Good Friday is considered to be a serious day the way Yom Kippur is for Jews.

But then we would need a week plus a day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I HATE that Easter is the last day of spring break. That needs to stop. We drive a long distance to my parents' rural home for Easter (flying takes longer and we would need to rent a car too). I always spend all of Easter on the road driving home, essentially missing the holiday. Easter should be the FIRST weekend of the break.

If the break is tied to Easter it should be the week AFTER not before especially since Good Friday is considered to be a serious day the way Yom Kippur is for Jews.

But then we would need a week plus a day.

ONE extra day (except for FCCPS who removed religious holidays) is hardly a big deal! I'm sure that can easily be handled.

The week before Easter is the WORST setup for spring break.
It should be a fixed week like the first full week of April and if it happens to be the week before Easter in a certain year then the Monday after is off.
If it is tied to Easter which it shouldn't then the week after is FAR better since the serious day of Good Friday is not in the spring break week and you have the week to look forward to following Easter, when it's the week before Easter then Easter is the LAST day which I'm sure never feels good.

Imagine if Yom Kippur was in the spring (it is in the Southern hemisphere), it would be brutal to move spring break based on when Yom Kippur is.

[Anonymous]

I work with a lot of people in the Bible Belt, and many of their schools decoupled Easter from Spring Break a long time ago. If they can do it, so can we. Shuffle one of the random days off to Easter Monday or Good Friday depending on attendance needs (if any- they aren’t actually the holidays and most people who work don’t observe them at their jobs) and call it day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Contacts for all 6 NoVA public school systems
to make spring break the 1st full week of April starting in 2027. An exception can occur in a year that Good Friday would otherwise be the 1st Friday after spring break.
Spring Break 2027 would be April 5-9
(Good Friday is March 26)
Loudoun County
https://loudouncountypsva.sites.thrillshare.c...-county-school-board
Arlington County
https://www.apsva.us/contact-aps/
Prince William County
https://www.pwcs.edu/about_us/contact_us
Alexandria City
https://www.acps.k12.va.us/contact-us/concern...es-suggestions-guide
Falls Church City
https://www.fccps.org/page/contact-board
Fairfax County
https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/leadership/sc...-school-board-clerks

Make the change
SB 2027 April 5-9 (maybe move SB 2026 to April 6-10)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Contacts for all 6 NoVA public school systems
Loudoun County
https://loudouncountypsva.sites.thrillshare.c...-county-school-board
Arlington County
https://www.apsva.us/contact-aps/
Prince William County
https://www.pwcs.edu/about_us/contact_us
Alexandria City
https://www.acps.k12.va.us/contact-us/concern...es-suggestions-guide
Falls Church City
https://www.fccps.org/page/contact-board
Fairfax County
https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/leadership/sc...-school-board-clerks

Make the change
Change SB 2026 to April 6-10
Schedule SB 2027 for April 5-9

[Anonymous]

Agreed, my family in the midwest has this - first week of April every year.

[Anonymous]

Loudoun has already set 2026/2027 and their 2027 spring break is the same as always. The week before Easter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with setting spring break at a specific point in April and not attaching it to Easter.

Disagree with your reasoning re: holidays. I don't know of any Christian denominations that specifically don't work on Good Friday: it can be a school day. And I understand observant Jews often don't work or attend school the first two days of Passover, so you'd potentially need those to be holidays.

I thought Good Friday is to Christians as Yom Kippur is to Jews. Apparently not. If many people would be absent on Good Friday schools should be closed, if not they can be open.

Nobody except the very devout celebrate Easter. Most Christians are not devout or even remotely religious, as you can see by the election results.

This is nonsense. Easter is second only to Christmas. And it’s 2-3 weeks off school in many countries. There are many more Christian holidays that have already been removed from the US calendars. These are the only two left!

So Much this. Easter is the biggest holiday next to Christmas. I’m fine with a fixed week for Spring, but then I want Holy Friday off, and Easter Monday off separately. And no tests or important school events that week.

[Anonymous]

I HATE that Easter is the last day of spring break. That needs to stop. We drive a long distance to my parents' rural home for Easter (flying takes longer and we would need to rent a car too). I always spend all of Easter on the road driving home, essentially missing the holiday. Easter should be the FIRST weekend of the break. If the break is tied to Easter it should be the week AFTER not before especially since Good Friday is considered to be a serious day the way Yom Kippur is for Jews.

We need a week plus a day anyway for Easter Monday. I don’t know why American Christians seem to be oblivious to Easter Monday. I don’t know why or when all the Christian holidays disappeared here. It’s a huge deal and 2-3 weeks vacation in every country in Europe. Due to its length it’s easier to have it fairly fixed on the calendar, too. It will also usually cover Spring Equinox which is celebrated in many cultures.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in the Bible Belt, and we always had spring break in mid-March. It was never tied to Easter, and we never had Good Friday nor Easter Monday off. I am a church-going Christian as an adult, and I would prefer spring break NOT be tied to Easter now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Practicing Catholic and I totally agree.

Pin it to the first week of April. Always. Done.

Families can plan. Teachers who live and teach in different counties don't have a unique childcare scramble that no one else faces. It seems like a no-brainer.

+1 to all of this.

Families who one-off want to spend Good Friday or the first day of Passover in their house of worship can do so. At my Catholic parish our Good Friday events don't even start until the afternoon to align roughly with the time that Jesus is thought to have actually died.

Pick the last week of March or first week of April and commit to it. Done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Loudoun has already set 2026/2027 and their 2027 spring break is the same as always. The week before Easter.

It's even earlier that year so it most definitely needs to be changed. I doubt anyone is making plans for 2027 just yet. They need to detach spring break from Easter since Easter isn't the same week every year. How about the 1st week after the 3rd quarter is over? In case 3rd quarters of other counties end later the 1st full week of April would make sense. Coming back from spring break and having over a quarter of the year with only 2 days off is rough.
Change spring break to the week of April 5-9 with either April 2 or 12 as the post 3rd quarter SH. March 25&26 can remain off with November 9 and February 5 becoming regular school days. https://files-backend.assets.thrillshare.com/...f?disposition=inline

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My guess is the truly devout Christians who show up at things like Good Friday services would not be the ones pushing back on this change. They already agree with someone over on the FCPS board who said Holy Week (week before Easter) is a somber time and not really the best "yay happy family adventure!" week for the devout.

It's the cultural Christians who assume you're moving it because somehow you are displacing their culture who would yell and scream. The kind who show up in church on Christmas and Easter and really have no concept of what Holy Week is all about.

As a devout Christian, I’d much rather have the week after Easter off. Otherwise you’re traveling back from your trip ON the most important day in the liturgical calendar.