How Long Is Winter Vacation
School’s almost out! It’s time for Summer vacation. But wait! Do you know how long is Winter Vacation? As a parent with school-aged kids, you’ve likely found yourself wondering what, exactly, is meant by “Winter Vacation”. Parts of that definition will vary from school to school and district to district. This can make it hard to plan beyond the holidays and into February. We’re here to help . . .
School is back in session and you have many questions on your mind. The first of those questions involves a certain season…the winter season. When the winter recess comes, how long is it ? How long will we have to wait for some sort of break? The answers await you.
In the Northern Hemisphere, winter vacation typically means at least one sleigh ride with snotty kids and $15 movie tickets for families. It’s easy to be depressed about the weather in January and February, but keep in mind these cold months are also a time for celebration — whether it’s St. Patrick’s Day or the Super Bowl . The following infographic breaks down the yearly calendar of winter events and holidays.
How Long Is Winter Vacation
Winters are the toughest for children. The winters deplete them of the energy to wake up early and wake up late in the night. Their moods depend a lot on the weather condition. In winters, there is always frost outside which makes the temperature drop down and induces winter diseases. Most of the parents complain that their children cannot differentiate between wind, snow and rain in cold temperatures. The poisonous gases accumulated at night paralyse their minds.
Most working adults don’t get much official time off during the holidays—the Explainer, for instance, is only released into the wild on Christmas and New Year’s Day. But students get tons of vacation time—some college breaks last as long as six weeks. How’d these kids get so lucky?
They can thank the stagflation and energy crisis of the Carter era, mostly. American colleges originally based their academic calendars around the agricultural cycle, commencing the semester after the harvest—much later than the August start that’s typical today. They also once hewed to a standard two-week break around Christmas, with exams scheduled for after the holiday. But in the 1970s, when many academic institutions found themselves in dire fiscal straits (one national task force predicted that more than one-quarter might be forced to close their doors), administrators realized that if they altered the calendar, they could reduce spending. By starting the term during late summer and by shutting their doors for a month or more over the winter holidays, they saved significantly on heating costs at a time when oil prices where cripplingly high. Serendipitously, this cost-cutting measure coincided with a broader movement inside academia toward experimental pedagogy, like study abroad, mini-classes, and internship programs that could be completed over a slightly longer break.
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The shift toward a longer winter break actually represents a move back to an earlier tradition. Britain’s Oxford and Cambridge Universities, upon which many of the oldest American colleges modeled themselves, settled into standardized terms in the mid-13th century. Students enjoyed a winter break of nearly a month between the Michelmas and Hilary terms at Oxford, and between Michelmas and Lent at Cambridge. As the term names suggest, the demands of the Christian religious calendar helped dictate the timing and length of the break. The difficulty of travel in the pre-internal-combustion era and the cost of heat and light during coldest days of the year may also have played a part.
Public elementary and secondary schools usually have a holiday break of just a week, as they must comply with state-mandated hour requirements for in-school instruction. Private schools historically have slightly longer breaks. Students at the boarding school Phillips Exeter Academy, for instance, had a two-week break at the holidays in 1850 and will get 18 days off this year.
With many academic institutions once again under financial duress, and with ever-growing attention paid to sustainability, colleges are seeking to make the most of their resources over the winter break. Some have begun renting out facilities for conferences over the holidays or furloughing some of their maintenance and support staff. Of course, schools can’t bring their maintenance and energy costs down to zero, even if fewer people are around. In Northern climes, there’s the risk of pipes freezing, and in the South, buildings are susceptible to mold growth without proper circulation.
Not all the students lucky enough to have a long winter break are satisfied with the schedule they inherited from the 1970s. Students at Brown University, for instance, asked administrators this year to give them less time off at Christmas—so they can have a longer spring break.
Got a question about today’s news? Ask the Explainer.
Explainer thanks Paul Fain of the Chronicle of Higher Education and John Thelin of the University of Kentucky.
Dates of Instruction
| AUTUMN 2021 | WINTER 2022 | SPRING 2022 | SUMMER 2022 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-term | A-term | B-term | ||||
| Instruction Begins WAC 478-132-030 | Sep 29, 2021 | Jan 3, 2022 | Mar 28, 2022 | Jun 21, 2022 | Jun 21, 2022 | Jul 21, 2022 |
| Last Day of Instruction | Dec 10, 2021 | Mar 11, 2022 | Jun 3, 2022 | Aug 19, 2022 | Jul 20, 2022 | Aug 19, 2022 |
| Final Examination Week | Dec 11-17, 2021 | Mar 12-18, 2022 | Jun 4-10, 2022 | Typically the last class day of class | Typically the last class day of class | Typically the last class day of class |
| Commencement | Seattle, Jun 11 Bothell, Jun 15 Tacoma, Jun 13 | |||||
| Quarter Breaks | Winter Break Dec 18, 2021-Jan 2, 2022 | Spring Break Mar 19-27, 2022 | Summer Break Jun 11-19, 2022 | Autumn Break Aug 20-Sep 27, 2022 |
University Holidays
Classes are not in session on the following holidays. All offices and most University buildings are also closed.
| EARLY FALL START 2021 | AUTUMN 2021 | WINTER 2022 | SPRING 2022 | SUMMER 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-term | A-term | B-term | ||||
| Labor Day Sep 6, 2021 | Veterans Day Nov 11, 2021 | New Year’s Day (observed) Dec 31, 2021 | Memorial Day May 30, 2022 | Juneteenth Jun 20, 2022 (observed) | Juneteenth Jun 20, 2022 (observed) | |
| Thanksgiving Nov 25-26, 2021 | Martin Luther King Jr. Day Jan 17, 2022 | Independence Day Jul 4, 2022 | Independence Day Jul 4, 2022 | |||
| Christmas (observed) Dec 24, 2021 | Presidents’ Day Feb 21, 2022 |
Application Deadlines
| AUTUMN 2021 | WINTER 2022 | SPRING 2022 | SUMMER 2022 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-term | A-term | B-term | ||||
| Admission Application for Freshmen | Nov 15, 2020 | Sep 1, 2021 | Not open for admission | Nov 15, 2021 | Nov 15, 2021 | Nov 15, 2021 |
| Admission Application for Transfer Students and Postbaccalaureate Students | Feb 15, 2021 | Sep 1, 2021 | Not open for admission | Feb 15, 2022 | Feb 15, 2022 | Feb 15, 2022 |
| Admission Application for International Undergraduate Students (Freshmen) | Nov 15, 2020 | NA | NA | Nov 15, 2021 | Nov 15, 2021 | Nov 15, 2021 |
| Admission Application for International Undergraduate Students (Transfer and Postbaccalaureate) | Feb 15, 2021 | NA | NA | Feb 15, 2022 | Feb 15, 2022 | Feb 15, 2022 |
| Admission Application for Summer Only Nonmatriculated Students | Jun 26, 2022 | Jun 26, 2022 | Jul 27, 2022 | |||
| Returning Student Form deadlines | Jul 1, 2021 | Nov 1, 2021 | Feb 1, 2022 | Jun 20, 2022 | Jun 20, 2022 | Jun 20, 2022 |
| Graduating Senior Priority – Applications due | May 5, 2021 | Nov 3, 2021 | Feb 9, 2022 | Apr 6, 2022 | Apr 6, 2022 | Apr 6, 2022 |
| UW faculty/staff and Washington State employees Tuition Exemption Forms due | Tuition exemption forms due 2 weeks before the beginning of the quarter | |||||
| Applications for credit by examination | Oct 8, 2021 | Jan 14, 2022 | Apr 8, 2022 | Jul 1, 2022 | Jul 1, 2022 | Jul 1, 2022 |
| Applications for baccalaureate degrees and certificates | Oct 15, 2021 | Jan 21, 2022 | Apr 15, 2022 | Jul 8, 2022 | Jul 8, 2022 | Jul 8, 2022 |
| Applications for Washington State residence status | Oct 28, 2021 | Feb 1, 2022 | Apr 26, 2022 | Jul 19, 2022 | Jul 19, 2022 | Jul 19, 2022 |
Registration Deadlines
| AUTUMN 2021 | WINTER 2022 | SPRING 2022 | SUMMER 2022 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-term | A-term | B-term | ||||
| Registration Period I — Priority Registration | May 7 – Jun 20, 2021 | Nov 5-21, 2021 | Feb 11-27, 2022 | Apr 11 – May 18, 2022 | Apr 11 – May 18, 2022 | Apr 11 – May 18, 2022 |
| Registration Period II — Registration period opens at midnight | Jun 21 – Sep 28, 2021 | Nov 22, 2021 – Jan 2, 2022 | Feb 28 – Mar 27, 2022 | May 19 – Jun 20, 2022 | May 19 – Jun 20, 2022 | May 19 – Jun 20, 2022 |
| Late Registration Fee begins ($25) [First-time registration (signing up for a class) for the quarter] | Sep 29, 2021 | Jan 3, 2022 | Mar 28, 2022 | Jun 21, 2022 | Jun 21, 2022 | Jul 21, 2022 |
| Registration Period III — Registration period opens at midnight | Sep 29 – Oct 5, 2021 | Jan 3-9, 2022 | Mar 28 – Apr 3, 2022 | Jun 21-27, 2022 | Jun 21-27, 2022 | Jun 21 – Jul 27, 2022 |