When do schools typically close before Christmas?

16 comments

1. today is the last day for schools in Madrid (and probably all of Spain) for the christmas holidays. School then start of the 7th of January because our christmas is on the 6th of january (the three wise men). We also celebrate Santa Claus though.

2. The dates of any school holiday change from state to state, and from year to year.

   [This year](https://www.holidays-info.com/germany/school-holidays/2022/), the earliest start on the 21st, most on the 22nd or 23rd and Bavaria even on the 24th and they end somewhere between the 2nd and the 7th of January. [Epiphany](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany_(holiday)) on January 6 is a public holiday in some, but not all states.

3. Depends on the day Christmas falls on Like is Christmas on a Monday or Tuesday your school would end the Friday before which could be the 19th or 20th. If Christmas falls on like a Thursday or Friday you might end school on the 20th or 21st. This year when christmas falls on a Saturday the vast majority of schools ended yesterday on the 21st.

4. This year, [as per the national school calendar](https://www.comparaja.pt/blog/calendario-escolar), the first school trimester ended somewhere around December 16^th, which was a Friday, which in turn means the school Christmas break officially started on December 19^th, which was last Monday.

5. The closure varies from region to region, in some, schools close on Christmas Eve, in others on the 23rd. The reopening also varies, at least this year in some it is on the 7th, the day after Epiphany, in others, probably because the 7th is a Saturday, and immediately afterwards people stay at home on Sundays, they reopen on Monday 9th.

6. I’m surprised most of the people here are saying such late dates. In the UK the school holiday usually begins on the last Monday before Christmas, so the last day of school is the previous Friday. This year that was the 17th December, although admitedly that’s the earliest possible date according to the above rule.

7. It depends on what dates Christmas/New Year’s are. Usually kids are free the last week of the old year and the first week of the new year. So this year kids will start their school holidays on Saturday the 24th and continue until the 8th of January.

8. Winter vacations in school are usually from 28th of December till 10th of January. Now, it’s from 26th of December till 8th of Januray, because too many kids caught cold (at least in my ragion). Catholic Christams is not considered a holiday and Orthodox usaslly happens during vacations.

9. If I remember correctly in my region, Lombardy, we used to go to school untill 23 (or the closest day which was a school day). Mind that I went to school also on Saturday so if 24 was on Sunday I would’ve gone to school on Saturday 23.

10. High schools will often go until the last Friday before the Christmas Holidays but the final exam will be a few days before. The last Friday is just a formality and is usually just half a day, at least in my case.

    University is a whole different beast, KULeuven still has classes until the 23rd of December this year lmao.

11. Flanders as far as I know do a 1 week(fall/carneval), 2 weeks(christmas/new years), 1 week(early year vacation apparently, had to look this one up), 2 weeks(Easter) and then July and August as summer.

    So in both Christmas and Easter holidays the vacation begins the week before the holiday it’s for. So tomorrow will be the last day of class and then 2 weeks of vacation.

12. It depends on the municipality and year. Usually, it starts between 21-23. They almost always stop after 6th of January. This year most seem to have the Christmas holiday 23.12.–8.1. but few start on 21st or 22nd. The main Christmas celebration day is the 24th so it is quite a late start.

13. In Flanders school closes for two weeks around Christmas and New Year.

    If Christmas is on a weekday, then the Christmas break starts on the monday of that week.

    If Christmas falls on a weekend, then the Christmas break starts on the monday after.

    *Ofcourse the weekends in general are also closed.

    That being said, schools can decide what they do in the last week before the Christmas break. Secondary education usually has exams the two weeks before and most days in the last week are either free or “project days” where various activities are planned (sport activities, day trips etc.)

    The last day of that last week is defacto free for both primary and secondary education, as then you get your grades for the exam period and the whole trimester.

14. The last day is typically the 20th or the 21st.

    Last day usually is a laid back day at school and then a night service at the church (Or an alternative program for non christians and people who don’t want to go.

15. Today was my last lecture. We don’t have lectures tomorrow because they have some Christmas events and attendance isn’t obligatory. So they technically start on the 24th but for most of us it’s the 23rd.

    Then we get back 5th January because they started splitting our Christmas holidays in two, and this way half of the Christmas holidays are “postponed” to inbetween semesters.

    I find that to be nonsense because I have 13 upcoming assignments til the end of January, two of which are during the Cheistmas holidays, and I could really use some extra days without school. Tuesdays especially are very long (08.00 – 20.00) and I have a commute of 2hrs back and forth so it’s a waste of time for me.

    I also have two weeks where I will be abroad and I have 4 of those 13 deadlines during those 2 weeks 🙃 I asked for a justification of absence and they told me they can’t excuse me because I will be taking a holiday vacation.

16. Usually one week before Christmas and in that last week you don’t have to go to school on Friday (and even Thursday if the teachers agree to) but as Christmas is Sunday this year the school closed today, not last week.