Spring break is the espresso shot of all breaks—one last gulp of energy to finish the school year strong.
For principals, spring break is an opportunity to get a jump on planning, take care of any adjustments to schedules and other operations, and stay up to date on state testing needs. But some principals have decided to take a breather. They’ve fished, gone on trips, cleaned their houses, and caught up on hours of television—activities that often fall by the wayside during the busy school year.
In a recent poll conducted by Education Week with the readers of The Savvy Principal newsletter, 57 percent indicated that they have or were going to take some time off during their school’s spring break, while 43 percent said they were going to keep working.
Julie Johnson, an assistant principal at the Wayzata Central Middle School in Plymouth, Minn., is trying to strike a balance between her two priorities of work and rest: She worked on the school’s schedule from a coffee shop.
“Scheduling is something that I need to get real deep in without having to take too many breaks,” she said. “I am also the main testing coordinator in my building, and standardized testing starts two weeks after break, so I need the time to plan for that.”
Here’s a look at what school leaders, nationwide, are doing for spring break—and their plans for welcoming students back afterwards. Their responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Is spring break a time for rest or catching up on work? Principals’ answers vary
I always use spring break to take time away from the school and focus on my family. This year, we did not go anywhere far but stayed home and enjoyed some free time. My wife and I took our daughters to the movies and I spent a lot of time on yard work. Usually, the work I do over spring break has consisted of working toward my doctoral degree, but thankfully I finished that at the end of 2024. It was so nice this time!
I am spending the spring break locally. My wife and I decided to stay at home. We have dedicated two hours each day to get some work done. I played a lot of golf and cooked some delicious food. I focused on recruiting my final language arts teacher for the upcoming school year and preparing my newsletter for when we return.
I love to spring clean over the break since it’s so rewarding to start with a messy closet and end up organized! I also spent some time sleeping in with no alarm clock. Since I live pretty close to the beach, I also built in some beach walks!
I spent the first part of my spring break at the National School Leaders Advocacy Conference in Washington, D.C. I was able to spend time with my daughter who was also on spring break. She is preparing to drive so I was able to spend quality time with her while teaching her how to drive. I was able to get onto the golf course one of the days for spring break—this is what I like to do for myself to take care of my well-being. As for preparing for the new quarter, I worked on two items—staffing options for the 2025-26 school year, and preparing for state testing.
I love spending my downtime reading, catching up on Hulu, and planning future vacations! This break, however, I also focused on preparing for state assessments, drafting weekly staff communication newsletters, and managing social media outreach for alumni relations.
Lots of pickleball and yoga and organizing the house and yard for spring. Exercise and sleeping in. Long walks with a dog who was very happy to have someone home during the day with them. Catching up on White Lotus, the Frozen Four, and March Madness. Also, getting my email box down to 0 is the goal—working on this a little each day. Ensuring that I set my email replies to the day before we come back so that I'm not pinging someone else's email box while they are trying to relax.
Spring break 2025 was a memorable one, starting with a trip to Washington, D.C., where I connected with a group of incredible leaders. Afterward, I took a quick detour to Lake Gaston, N.C., to relax and recharge. To cap it off, I traveled to South Dakota with my family, exploring several stunning national parks. ... I also focused on my aspiration to become a principal.
To relax, I read and enjoyed spending time with my children. During the break, I started reading "The Next Conversation" by Jefferson Fisher. For work, my focus was on compiling my observational evidence and finalizing teachers' summative evaluations.
Instead of taking time off, I traveled to Topeka to advocate for public school funding at the Capitol building. While there, I was invited to testify before the Kansas House education committee on critical issues, including teacher retention strategies, strengthening the teacher pipeline, and implementing effective mentor programs for new educators.
Principals share their back-to-school traditions for students after spring break
I enjoy playing music as students enter our school. I think it's an excellent way to begin the day. I turned up the tunes on some positive music to welcome students back.
We’ll be right in the middle of state testing. But during testing, we do some incentives and spirit days often to keep the students and staff pumped up.
The halls are decorated for spring, creating a cheerful and welcoming atmosphere. Each day begins with morning announcements on our YouTube channel, offering reminders and encouragement to help students finish the year STRONG.
Just lots of love and time in classrooms to reset routines. The first day is very chill for our students and staff to get them reacquainted and to connect on what happened over break. We also have our support team (counselors, social workers, etc.) ready in case students have needs after the break.
We kick things off by sharing spring break stories, allowing students to reconnect and ease back into the school routine. Then, we shift our focus to state testing by setting goals and reviewing individual data to ensure they feel prepared and motivated.
The welcome back tradition we do at the beginning of each quarter is what we call a PBIS rodeo. We are a Positive Behavior Intervention Support school, and each quarter, we take students to each of the school's areas and revisit the rules, routines, and expectations.
We typically try to find a time to get the entire school together to have a meeting to remind students of rules, upcoming events, ... This also provided me the opportunity [this year] to pull an April Fool's prank on our students. We explained that we will be adopting a brand new school uniform dress code that will be drastically different in the upcoming school year (think Hogwarts), complete with a made up PowerPoint showing the clothes they'll need to get. It [got] a pretty good reaction.
