How Many Days and Hours of School Time Each US State Requires By Grade

Time never seems to move more slowly than when watching the clock count down to the end of another day of school. How many hours is a whole school day? In America, that depends on each state’s required instructional time policies. For example, the national average high school day length is 6 hours and 38.4 minutes long, while Texas averages 7 hours and Washington averages just more than 6 hours. The team at PlaygroundEquipment.com has created a chart to visualize required instructional time by state as a reference for parents, caregivers, educators, and students themselves. Here are the required school days by state and the required school hours by state:

 

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How Many Days Is a School Year?

The average days in the school year in the United States will vary by state, but the majority of states (29 to be exact) require 180 school days.

 

What State Has the Most Days of School?

According to the data provided by the National Center for Education Statistics, Illinois and North Carolina top the chart at 185 required school days.

 

What State Has the Fewest Required School Days?

Besides the states that do not have a required minimum number of school days each year, Colorado has the fewest required school days in the United States, at 160. States with no minimum school day requirements are Arkansas, Idaho, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

 

What States Have Four-Day School Weeks?

Several states have introduced four day school weeks, including Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Oklahoma, and Oregon. In fact, 60 percent of Colorado’s districts and around 40 percent of New Mexico and Oregon’s districts have implemented a four-day school week. These schedules most often get rid of classes on Friday, and they usually add around an hour per day when school is in session. Four-day school week schedules achieve an average of around 148 school days per year, which is 32 days fewer than the national average of 180 school days.

 

Does Recess Count as Instructional Time?

This depends on the state. We examined each state’s recess and instructional time policies to determine which states allow recess to be counted toward instructional time, and these include Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. How much recess can be applied toward required instructional time varies by state, but it is definitely a step in the right direction!

 

Does Recess Take Away From Learning Time?

Many experts believe that recess can be profoundly beneficial for a student’s academic performance, behavior, life skills, and more. Check out our infographic on the benefits of recess to find out more. We also did an extensive analysis of recess policies across the United States — check out how your state compares.

 

Required Instruction Time by State

State	School Days	Instruction Hours
Alabama	180	1,080
Alaska	180	K-3 = 740 Grades 4-12 = 900
Arizona	180	Half-day kindergarten = 356 Grades 1-3 = 712 Grades 4-6 = 890 Grades 7-8 = 1,000 Grades 9-12 = 720
Arkansas	178	No requirement
California	180	Kindergarten = 600 Grades 1-3 = 840 Grades 4-8 = 900 Grades 9-12 = 1,080
Colorado	160	Half-day kindergarten = 435 Full-day kindergarten = 870 Grades 1-5 = 968 Grades 6-12 = 1,056
Connecticut	180	Half-day kindergarten = 450 Full-day kindergarten = 900 Grades 1-12 = 900
Delaware	No requirement	K-11 = 1,060 Grade 12 = 1,032
Florida	180	K-3 = 720 Grades 4-12 = 900
Georgia	180	No requirement
Hawaii	180	1,080
Idaho	District option	Kindergarten = 450 Grades 1-3 = 810 Grades 4-8 = 900 Grades 9-12 = 990
Illinois	180	No requirement
Indiana	180	No requirement
Iowa	180	1,080
Kansas	Kindergarten-11 = 186 Grade 12 = 181	Kindergarten = 465 Grades 1-11 = 1,116 Grade 12 = 1,086
Kentucky	170	1,062
Louisiana	177	1,062
Maine	175	No requirement
Maryland	180	Elementary and middle/junior high schools = 1,080 Public high schools = 1,170
Massachusetts	180	Kindergarten = 425 Grades 1-5 = 900 Grades 6-12 = 990
Michigan	180	1,098
Minnesota	165	Half-day kindergarten = 425 Full-day kindergarten = 850 Grades 1-6 = 935 Grades 7-12 = 1,020
Mississippi	180	No requirement
Missouri	5-day week = 174 4-day week = 142	Kindergarten = 522 Grades 1-12 = 1,044
Nebraska	No requirement	Kindergarten = 400 Grades 1-8 = 1,032 Grades 9-12 = 1,080
Nevada	180	No requirement
New Hampshire	180	Kindergarten = 450 Grades 1-5 = 945 Grades 6-12 = 990
New Jersey	180	No requirement
New Mexico	No requirement	Half-day kindergarten = 450 Full-day kindergarten = 990 Grades 1-6 = 990 Grades 7-12 = 1,080
New York	180	No requirement
North Carolina	185	1,025
North Dakota	175	K-8 = 952 Grades 9-12 = 1,038
Ohio	District option	Half-day kindergarten = 455 Full-day kindergarten = 910 Grades 1-6 = 910 Grades 7-12 = 1,001
Oklahoma	180	1,080
Oregon	No requirement	Half-day kindergarten = 450 Full-day kindergarten = 900 Grades 1-8 = 900 Grades 9-11 = 990 Grade 12 = 966
Pennsylvania	180	Kindergarten = 450 Grades 1-8 = 900 Grades 9-12 = 990
Rhode Island	180	1,080
South Carolina	180	No requirement
South Dakota	District option	Kindergarten = 438 Grades 1-5 = 875 Grades 6-12 = 963
Tennessee	180	No requirement
Texas	No requirement	1,260
Utah	180	Kindergarten = 450 Grade 1 = 810 Grades 2-12 = 990
Vermont	175	No requirement
Virginia	180	Kindergarten = 540 Grades 1-12 = 990
Washington	180	Kindergarten = 1,000 Grades 1-8 = 1,000 Grades 9-12 = 1,080
West Virginia	180	No requirement
Wisconsin	No requirement	Kindergarten = 437 Grades 1-6 = 1,050 Grades 7-12 = 1,137
Wyoming	175	Kindergarten = 450 Elementary = 900 Middle/junior high = 1,050 High school = 1,100

 

Edited by: Ben Thompson