In the United States, there are typically 35 to 36 weeks in a school year (this is based on a 5-day school week) and 175 to 180 days in a school year. However, the requirement varies by state, district, grade level, and type of school (ex. charter vs public). Due to classes only being held a few days out of some
weeks (and school closures), the actual number of weeks in a year that the school term covers is different. For example, a district in South Florida has a 20/21 school year from Aug 19th to June 9th which covers 43 weeks out of the 52 weeks in a full year. However, 4 full weeks and a total of 31 days are closed due to holidays and teacher planning days. In total, there are 39 weeks the
schools are open for a total to 180 instruction days.
How many school days are in a year?
According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), there are typically about 160 to 185 school days in a year with an average of 175-180 days. Again, this number fluctuates per state, district, etc. Some schools also have the option to meet a minimum number of instructional hours per school term instead of days.
For hours required, the average is 1080 hours but ranges from 720 to 1,260 hours for high school grades. Lower grades, such as kindergarten have as little as 400 hours required. As adults, I bet we all wish we could go back to this before the 2080 work hours in a year we have to struggle through!
Using the South Florida school as an example again, the school term covered 211 weekdays from Aug. 19th 2020 to June 9th 2021. Of those days, the school is closed on 31 of them leaving 180 instructional days.
On the other hand, Houston, Texas has a school term that covers 40 weeks out of the year and is open for 36 of them. It starts on Sept. 8th 2020 and ends on June 11th 2020 for a total of 199 weekdays. After accounting for 28 days of holidays and teacher planning, the school term in Houston is only 171 days of instructional time.
Required School Days by State
This chart shows the school day requirements of different states based on data from the Education Commission of the States (updated 2020).
Alabama | 180 days |
Alaska | 180 days |
Arizona | 180 days |
Arkansas | 178 days |
California | 175-180 days |
Colorado | 160 days |
Connecticut | 180 days |
Delaware | Only a requirement for hours |
District of Columbia | 180 days |
Florida | 180 days |
Georgia | 180 days |
Hawaii | 180 days |
Idaho | Varies by district |
Illinois | 176-185 days |
Indiana | 180 days |
Iowa | 180 days |
Kansas | Grades 1-11: 186 days Grade 12: 181 days |
Kentucky | 170 days |
Louisiana | 177 days |
Maine | 180 days |
Maryland | 180 days |
Massachusetts | 180 days |
Michigan | 180 days |
Minnesota | Grades 1-11: 165 days |
Mississippi | 180 days |
Missouri | Only a requirement for hours |
Montana | Varies by district |
Nebraska | Only a requirement for hours |
Nevada | 180 days |
New Hampshire | 180 days |
New Jersey | 180 days |
New Mexico | Only a requirement for hours |
New York | 180 days |
North Carolina | 185 days |
North Dakota | Only a requirement for hours |
Ohio | Varies by district |
Oklahoma | 180 days |
Oregon | Only a requirement for hours |
Pennsylvania | 180 days |
Rhode Island | 180 days |
South Carolina | 180 days |
South Dakota | Varies by district |
Tennessee | 180 days |
Texas | Only a requirement for hours |
Utah | 180 days |
Vermont | 175 days |
Virginia | 180 days |
Washington | 180 days |
West Virginia | 180 days |
Wisconsin | Only a requirement for hours |
Wyoming | 175 days |
Conclusion
In summation, there is an average of 35-36 weeks, 175-180 days, and about 9 months in a school year.
Based on that average of 180 days, we spend 2,340 days in school in our lifetime of grades K-12; that’s 6.4 years!