This one goes out to all the slackers, like me, who suddenly turn into “the sickest person on Earth” the second a test is coming up. But okay, let’s be real — when can you officially miss school in America?
Here are the main ways:
First of all, the U.S. school week is pretty sweet — just 5 days. Saturday is officially for sleeping in till noon (a sacred tradition I fully support). At this point, I can’t even imagine having classes on weekends anymore.
Breaks though… not as generous. Summer is 2.5 months, winter break is 2 weeks. Fall and spring? You basically just get 4 days off for Thanksgiving and Easter. But don’t panic — the school calendar makes up for it with random “teacher work days,” almost always on a Friday or Monday, so you end up with a perfect 4-day weekend.
Then there are Snow Days. Everyone prays for these all winter long. At school they even hang up “ritual instructions”: like walk around your house barefoot or put a spoon under your pillow. Teachers swear it helps! But really, if the weather’s bad, the school decides whether classes are canceled. And that’s when your phone starts exploding at 5 a.m. with calls from every teacher. Don’t pick up? You’ll be deleting voicemails all day. For those who miss the news, the update also gets posted on Schoology (kind of like an online gradebook). Oh, and there are two levels of “bad weather”: bad (just a 2-hour delay) and really bad (actual cancellation). Trust me, the delay isn’t nearly as fun.
Another option: Enrichment Day. Back in Russia, when I first saw it on the schedule, I thought it was some kind of mystery holiday. Turns out it happens every two weeks, on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Seniors have meetings then, and everyone else gets to sleep in for 2 extra hours (but only on Wednesday — Thursday is back to 8 a.m., sadly). The schedule flips: Wednesday you only have periods 2, 4, 6 (each 1.5 hours), and Thursday it’s 1, 3, 5, 7. At first it felt cool, but now… meh, the excitement has faded.
So yeah — that’s how skipping school works here.
What about you? Do you ever skip school?
Try writing about your own school life — maybe you’ll inspire someone to become an exchange student too!