Starting school before Labor Day allows for more instructional days when it matters

–Written by an Educator in our District

School is in session for students as soon as Monday, August 25th in one nearby town, and six others have students begin in August (before Labor Day). 

The first seven districts listed in the chart at the bottom of this article are school districts in NJ21’s traditional seven-district data dashboard. The remaining districts are nearby districts. A total of 18 school districts across Essex, Morris, Somerset, and Union counties are analyzed below, with variation starting from Monday, August 25th to Thursday, September 4th for the first day with students.

Four groups of start dates:

Group 1: Nearly one week of school before Labor Day for one district. The School District of the Chathams, which starts on Monday, August 25th and has a four-day school week. Schools in Chatham are closed for students and staff on Friday, August 29th, while any other district open before Labor Day has an early dismissal that day (which makes more sense to get in a day of school).

Group 2: Partial week of school before Labor Day weekend for six districts. New Providence, Warren, Watchung, Green Brook, Watchung Hills Regional all have a two-day week of school on the Thursday/Friday before Labor Day, beginning school on Thursday, August 28th. Livingston begins on Wednesday, August 27th, with a three-day week. New Providence and Livingston have an early dismissal on Friday, August 29th while the remaining districts have a full Friday of instruction. 

Group 3: Teachers in before Labor Day, students begin on Tuesday, September 2nd for five districts. Berkeley Heights, Summit, Millburn, Long Hill, and Bridgewater-Rartian all have students begin immediately after Labor Day. All districts mentioned above have one, two, or three staff development days in the final week of August.

Group 4: The late starters for six districts: Madison, Mountainside, Scotch-Plains Fanwood, Cranford, Westfield, and Bernards each have teachers report in on Tuesday, September 2nd, and students begin on Thursday, September 4th. In Madison, school construction from their 2023 referendum has prompted the district to begin as late as possible and dismiss as early as possible to allow for summer construction to go as many consecutive weeks as possible. No school system listed here begins later than Thursday, September 4th.

Notably, the first three groups listed above have students and teachers beginning earlier than pre-2020. It was only until the past five or so years where districts around Northern/Central Jersey pushed for school before Labor Day.

The Push for an Early Start to School

Teachers, administrators, and Board of Education members mostly agree on the following: The more instructional days prior to spring test (state and Advanced Placement), the better. Alternatively, student tolerance to learning is shot after state testing (takes place in May) and especially after Memorial Day. What is the point of having school after testing if district rankings are based on math and English proficiencies, which stem from state testing?

Take “Group 2” districts above that have two or three days of school before Labor Day. This way, the beginning of the school year routines, such as ‘ice breaker’ activities, are out of the way before Labor Day and the real learning can begin on Tuesday, September 2nd. This puts the “Group 3” and especially “Group 4” districts at a huge disadvantage.

The School District of the Chathams, “Group 1,” is the farthest ahead and has six days of instruction on a “Group 4” district, such as Madison or Westfield.

Starting school earlier than later also helps with getting out earlier. Chatham ends on Tuesday, June 16th. Whereas, Westfield goes as late as Thursday, June 25th, at least one week later than districts that start earlier.

More districts, such as Millburn and Livingston, have made the move to either start earlier and/or shorten their February break in order to get out in the third week of June versus the fourth week of June. 

While most districts’ Collective Bargaining agreements run “September 1-June 30,” is it really worth going to school until late June?

It is not only deep southern K-12 schools that begin in mid-August. School districts in Pennsylvania and Virginia have students report the third week of August, having nearly two weeks of student instruction before Labor Day. For college admissions, students in other states (in fact, most other states) have an advantage in more weeks of instruction to more likely increase their AP testing scores and the college admissions process over New Jersey students. No matter where you live, AP testing starts on May 4th. Therefore, the more days of school before May (which also has state testing), the better.

Is it time for New Jersey to follow, or at least look at Chatham as the model district at this time?

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