Anyone over a certain age remembers when the school year generally started the Tuesday after Labor Day, with two days off for Thanksgiving, two weeks for winter break and one more week around Easter.

Now, most Southwest County districts start classes in August and offer up to three weeks off for winter break and two weeks for spring break. Add days honoring presidents Washington and Lincoln, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and Veterans and Memorial days, and jealous working parents may feel that their children have it easy.

As the glow of the Christmas season fades and people settle back into their routines, students in Murrieta Valley Unified School District have not only been off the last three weeks, but there are no classes Monday, as well. The teachers will be back to work that day, however.

The reasons for the extended breaks is mostly to make sure classes are offered when most students will be in attendance, according to Riverside County schools Superintendent Kenneth Young.

"The whole idea is to make sure school takes place when students are there," Young said. "As our demographics have changed, it has affected winter attendance patterns."

Young said the traditional school calendar goes back to the nation's agricultural roots, when children would spend the summer working on family farms.

Students today attend school the same number of days, they're just distributed over a longer school year.

Young said some districts were almost forced into the change.

"The student population didn't always come back after two weeks," he said.

Because school districts get most of their funding based on the average number of students who attend each day, they work to have as many students in class as possible.

The longer break in Murrieta goes back to when it was a year-round district.

"We did a survey and one thing parents really liked was longer breaks during the school year," district spokeswoman Karen Paris said.

Paris said the time is made up by shortening the summer break. The current school year started Aug. 13 and ends June 12.

"Because we start earlier, we're able to end the first semester before Christmas," she said.

That means students don't have their final exams hanging over their heads during the winter break.

While children may enjoy more days away from school, it can be a burden for parents who needs to arrange child care.

The Murrieta district offers a winter break camp from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day that is not a school holiday.

Children participate in activities such as art, computers, math, language arts and reading.

Fees range from $37 to $145 a week, depending on the age and how many hours and days a student attends.

Thursday, 31 children spent part of the day in the playground at Avaxat Elementary School, playing tag, sliding down slides, climbing a jungle gym and swinging on swings

Gracie Roberts, a 10-year-old fifth-grader at Tovashal Elementary, was among the children on the handball court. She has participated in the after-school and winter camps since she was in kindergarten.

"It's about when you meet new friends," she said when asked what she likes best about the camp.

She was playing with Satiya Achille, 8, a third-grader at Antelope Hills Elementary, and twin sisters Mackenzie and Danielle Cabrera, 10-year-old fourth-graders at E. Hale Curran Elementary, whom she may not have met otherwise.

The camp is an offshoot of the district's daily daycare program, which is offered at each elementary and middle school. More than 500 students participate, according to Coni Stevens, coordinator of family services.

The enrollment for the winter camp is down from about 45 participants last year, Stevens said.

"I think the economy has a lot to do with that," she said.

The longer break also allows districts to do maintenance projects that otherwise would have to wait until the summer.

Work in Murrieta included replacing the walkway roof, replacing carpet, repairing the water heater system in the gym and parking lot lighting repairs at Murrieta Valley High School, installing a concrete slab along with the installation of emergency lights in the multipurpose room and roof repairs at E. Hale Curran, and repainting parking lots at Alta Murrieta, Antelope Hills and Avaxat and replacing carpet and flooring at three campuses.

Contact staff writer Craig Shultz at (951) 676-4315, Ext, 2625, or cshultz@californian.com.

When are they off?

Each Southwest County school district has a slightly different school-year calendar.

- Lake Elsinore Unified School District -- Labor Day, Veterans Day, one week for Thanksgiving, three-week winter break, Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, four-day weekend for Presidents Day, one-week spring break (April 6-10), Memorial Day

- Menifee Union School District -- Labor Day, Veterans Day, two days for Thanksgiving, two-week winter break, Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Lincoln's birthday, Washington's birthday, Memorial Day. The district is moving from a year-round to single-track schedule for the 2009-10 school year. It will include one week for Thanksgiving, a three-week winter break and a one-week spring break. The calendar will coincide with those of Paloma Valley and Heritage high schools, which are part of the Perris Union High School District.

- Murrieta Valley Unified School District -- Labor Day, Veterans Day, one week for Thanksgiving, 16-day winter break, Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, four-day weekend for Presidents Day, 11-day spring break (April 6-20), Memorial Day

- Temecula Valley Unified School District -- Labor Day, Veterans Day, one week for Thanksgiving, two-week winter break, Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Lincoln's birthday, Washington's birthday, two-week spring break (March 23-April 3), Memorial Day