>>>The reply I'm most curious about is Sam's. I am sure there are some districts that do so, if he says so, but personally I have never heard of a school year that starts the first week in August.
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>>Orlando, FL - 31 July. The daughter of a friend of ours just started kindergarten there.
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>Some time in the 90's Orlando implemented a year-round schedule to improve facilities utilization. I don't know what the pattern is (I left in 93 so my information is way out of date), but different grades (or different classes within a grade) could start anywhere from late July to early September.
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>Different issue, but I believe they also went for several short (2-3 week) breaks rather than one long summer break with the idea being to minimize the amount of forgotten learning during the long break. I don't know what success it has had, but the idea sounded plausible.

If they do have year round school, then who will help work the fields from June to Auguest? And who will help plant the seeds in the spring (spring break)? It has been my understanding that this is the reason these vacation times are as they are.