What is a normal school day today?

[SweetSue92]

When I was in school, the standard was 8am to 3pm, with a little less than an hour for lunch. I never had a "study hall" unless the teacher was absent. What is normal today?

A related question would be, How much time would a "good student" be expected to spend on homework? I remember in HS being told that homework should take about half the time of classroom work, so let's call it 3 hours per night in HS. I never spent anywhere near that much time on homework. In college it was supposed to be 1:1 - an hour study for each hour in class, and that's what I did. Same in law school.

What are the norms today?

The district from which I retired had an elementary school day of 8:45 (final bell) to 3:45 (dismissal). Such a long day that I don't believe elementary children need homework, especially the younger ones (I can support a little homework in grades 4-5).

But parents everywhere complain loudly that the school day does not encompass all of their working hours, like children should be in school from 7am to 5:30pm every day. These parents are next level and I don't mean that in a good way

 

[DGS49]

From the look of it, it seems like seven hours total is "normal."

When my son was nearing HS, a local parochial school was kicking around the idea of a longer school day with organized study halls, so that there would be no homework, but that idea was killed because it took away too much time from extracurricular activities - made them nearly impossible, in fact.

 

[Unkotare]

... took away too much time from extracurricular activities - made them nearly impossible, in fact.

Your obsession again.

 

[ReinyDays]

Are we including time on the bus? ... don't forget to add two hours in the morning and again in the afternoon for some places here on the High Desert in the West ... 100 miles to the local high school is common enough ...

"You know you're in the Pacific Northwest when you measure time between cities in hours" -- Jeff Foxworthy ...

 

[Unkotare]

There has been talk of starting the school day later so the kids can get more sleep. Never seems to materialize though. Probably not practical.