Cultural: September 1 - School Starts!

This is a repost of a previously published post - with a few changes for this year.

In Poland I really appreciated the fact that the school year is standard. It is easy. 

School starts on September 1

with a general meeting for all parents and kids where they meet their teachers.  It's not very long and in our case, was held outside on the playground/soccer field. They didn't have a building big enough to house everyone.

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If September 1 falls on a weekend, then the year starts on the first day after September 1 that isn't a weekend.

It is kind of a ‘soft start’ for the elementary school kids anyway, because after the meeting which lasts a couple of hours, they go home. They come back on the 2nd of September with their backpacks, books, and paper and everything else.

If the 1st is on a weekend, then the school year starts on Monday with the mandatory meeting and everything is just pushed back a day or two.

At least that is the theory. Often people take a week or so to gather everything together.

The school year generally gets out the fourth Friday in June. 

For kids who are graduating or changing schools the next year, they often have their special ceremonies the day before the last day.

Those are the starting and stopping point of the typical public school year. You can plan vacations or big trips around these dates - they aren't going to change them.

I think even private schools pretty much stick to this schedule, but not always.

Because it's now time for schools to start, just as in the USA, stores are filled with back to school stuff. That is kind of fun for some. For others, it's a reminder that their days of freedom are about over!

When school starts again, traffic ramps up and there is a noticeable increase in the number of cars on the road.

Now that all our kids are finished with school, this fact about the school year is only general awareness of what's going on around us - and does not regulate our lives. I really like this stage in our lives!

And that's my tidbit of Polish culture for you today!

I do believe that this is pretty much how Europe is, though - not just Poland - September 1 being the starting point for elementary/high schools.

Universities/colleges have different schedules - in Poland they start October 1.


Thanks so much for coming along on this journey!

Have a great day wherever you are reading this!


My overall report, summary and thoughts about the my challenge of “Can I quilt 90 quilts in 31 days” will be on Saturday, Sept. 2.

I did end up finishing the extra 3 quilting, that is, so I have now finished quilting all 120.

I still have trimming, binding, washing and photographing and transporting. While all of that together takes (maybe) longer than just the quilting, for me each stage is shorter, and actually less stressful than the quilting. I will now go back to finishing 10 at a time and sharing them as I usually do.



Becky Petersen3 Comments