School is starting nearly 2 weeks before Labor Day in some N.J. districts. Here’s why. (2024)

While most New Jersey kids still have nearly two more weeks to enjoy their summer vacation, it is the first day of school this week for students in at least two districts as start dates continue to creep ever earlier.

Wednesday is the first day of the 2022-2023 school year in the West Morris Regional High School District, which has two schools that enroll students from five Morris County municipalities.

Classes begin Thursday in the School District of the Chathams, also in Morris County and home to four elementary schools, a middle school and a high school.

Teachers in both districts returned to work Monday — 14 days before the traditional end of the summer season.

While many schools in other areas, especially districts in Southern and Western states, start classes in early August, most school districts in New Jersey continue to schedule the first day of school either a few days before or after Labor Day.

The move to start school earlier in August in some New Jersey districts — including West Morris Regional and District of the Chathams — is unlikely to signal a broader scheduling shift statewide, according to one longtime administrator.

“If it’s a trend, it’s a small trend. August is a big vacation time,” said Richard Bozza, executive director of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators.

Starting school in mid-August is a problem for some families because it interferes with camp schedules, family vacations and other pre-Labor Day events.

Newark, the state’s largest district, is holding its first day of classes Sept. 6, the day after Labor Day. In Jersey City, the state’s second-largest district, students return to school Sept. 8.

Students in Elizabeth, the third-largest district, start Sept. 9. That is 16 days after classes begin at West Morris Regional.

The school year in the Chathams regularly got underway in September until last year, when Aug. 30 was the first day of classes. This year, students are starting Thursday, in part so they can get out of school earlier in June.

“The longer we’re in school in June, it seems students start to lose their focus,” Chathams Superintendent Michael LaSusa said in explaining the shift.

That wasn’t the only consideration in shifting the start of the school year, he said. The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association has been moving up the start of practices — football this summer was allowed to start Aug. 10 and tennis on Aug. 17. That means a large number students were already reporting to school for sports practices by mid-August.

“It was always before Labor Day. Now it’s even earlier,” LaSusa said of the sports schedules.

An earlier return to classrooms also gives students and school staff more time to prepare college applications and get ready for standardized testing, LaSusa said.

“Having a little more time earlier in the year helps to alleviate some of the stress,” LaSusa said.

The principal of West Morris Mendham High School, one of two schools in the regional district, also said starting nearly two weeks before Labor Day makes sense for his school.

“We’ve got a disproportionate number of students and staff on campus already for athletics and activities ... Kids are deep into the college application process in August,” said Steve Ryan, the high school’s principal.

The school is starting classes Wednesday and ending the school year in early June.

“June is a very stagnant time in schools. It’s after all of your standardized testing,” he said.

New Jersey law offers the state’s nearly 600 school districts flexibility on when to start the school year. The only requirements are there must be a minimum of 180 instructional days and classes must be completed by June 30.

School year starting times vary throughout the nation. A 2019 Pew Research Center study found that U.S. schools start anywhere from between late July to after Labor Day.

The report found early start dates are more common in the South and Southwest, with later starts along the East Coast (from Maine to North Carolina), the upper Midwest (Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan) and the Northwest (Oregon and Washington).

For the 2022-2023 school year, students in Chicago returned to school Monday. In Philadelphia, classes begin Aug. 29. New York City is welcoming students back to class Sept. 8.

The first day of school in Chandler, Arizona — identified in the Pew study as the earliest starting date of the 500 districts surveyed — was July 20. Three, two-week breaks are built into the schedule and May 25 is the last day of classes.

Nationwide, some school districts are also moving to a modified year-round school schedule. That means they have short summer breaks, sometimes as brief as 30 days, before returning to school in July. Then, there are longer multi-week breaks in the fall, winter and spring, according to the National Association For Year-Round Education.

Despite the move to modify school calendars, most New Jersey school districts are still use traditional school calendars — starting around Labor Day and continuing until mid-June with weeks off for the winter holidays and spring break. Some districts also have long weekends or a week-long break in February.

The last day of classes this school year in the Chathams, which is offering a week-long winter break in February, is June 14. West Morris Regional does not have a winter break and the last day of the school year is June 8, just 10 days after Memorial Day.

Elizabeth, with a Sept. 9 start, is keeping students in classes until June 23.

Bozza questioned whether moving the end of school to early June or May will really affect how attentive students are in class.

“Whenever you get near the end, it becomes difficult because everybody sees the end. Whether it’s May 30 or June 15, I don’t know if that matters a great deal,” Bozza said.

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Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com.