104 days of Summer Vacation, More like 81!

Photo taken by Hudson Heath

Coming back to school this year made me realize how short summer actually is. I started to ask questions like “why did this past summer feel so short?” and “Has it always been this short or have things changed over the years”. Lots of kids young and old vividly remember the opening soundtrack of Phineas and Ferbs 104 days of summer vacation. Surprisingly this past summer of 2024 in comparison was a mere 81 days.

When talking to students many reported and expressed how short it felt this past summer. Many weren’t sure whether this is because they are getting older or because summer is actually getting shorter. When analyzing the number of summer days per year it stays relatively the same. This changes depending on how the school schedule works out.

Another reason that summer feels shorter is because of how busy people are. When people get older they typically get more busy compared to when they are younger, sitting around the house for longer amounts of time. Another reason is the slow shifting of when school starts and ends. Ephriam Linthalath, a junior at Orem High School explained that because of the shifting school schedule

(getting out and starting earlier) it can affect physiologically what students interpret as a full month/ week of summer. Mentally students feel like summer doesn’t really start until the start of June, when August rolls around kids already feel as if school is going to start any second. Students take on the stress of school a week or so before it starts. Kids are also bombarded with back to school shopping advertisements as soon as August starts.

This Increase of stress can explain how anticipation for the school year can decrease summer by a week or so depending on how seriously it is taken.

When interviewing Sarah Hacken, (a member of the District Calendar committee) talked about how parents are wanting to get out before memorial day. This changes the schedule due to memorial day being considered the last Monday of the month in may. The school has to work around this because it is considered a national holiday. So depending on which day it falls will change when we get out of school.

School has been starting earlier and earlier every year and while the graphs of starting and ending school correlate in a way It’s unsure if starting so early in august actually helps. Sarah Hacken and a few others when interviewed thought any date earlier than the 15th is too early.

So far, the alpine school district will start the 13th of August in 2025. Most thoughts are negative from surveying a number of students and a few parents, most stating “It’s way too early”. Although the number of days in summer are the same, moving it earlier has had strong negative feedback from interviewed parents and students.

More days off during the school year have also slowly been added. This includes teacher work days, teacher comp days which will come to a total amount of 30 days, or in other words a whole month off in 2026. This Totals out to teachers working 186 days and students attending 174.

There are many factors that contribute towards psychological length versus the real length of summer as well as school. While the total number of days during the summer stays consistent, the school year moves more than ever.