The final bell of the school year rang out at Warsaw Elementary School in Kiryat Ono, east of Tel Aviv, on Tuesday, and fourth-grade students made little effort to hide their excitement. Some walked out of class smiling, others were already talking about summer camps, friends, sleeping late and plans for the weeks ahead, along with the strange feeling of saying goodbye to their daily routine.
June 30 marked the end of the school year for kindergartens and elementary schools across Israel. Middle schools and high schools had already begun their summer vacation earlier in June, while the next school year is scheduled to open on Sept. 1. More than 2.5 million students began the 2025-26 school year in Israel, including 180,600 first-graders and 149,000 12th-graders.
For many children, the long vacation is not just a pause from studies, but a chance to breathe after a year of lessons, tests, assignments and classroom life.
“I’m happy we’re going on vacation because I’ve wanted it for a long time,” said Lavi, a fourth-grade student at Warsaw Elementary School. “I also have plans for the vacation—I’ll meet friends, go to camps, and I’ll be really sad when I come back.”
Yuval said he had also been waiting for the break.
“I’m really happy,” he said. “I really love school, but I think vacation is a moment to refresh, a moment to think, to simply sleep more and do whatever you want.”
Talia said that even students who enjoy school sometimes need time away from it.
“I think it’s going to be really fun. It’s not that I don’t like school, but it’s fun to be free for a bit,” she said. “I signed up for a lot of camps and activities, and it’s going to be really fun.”
For Lia, the last day of school also marked a transition.
“I’m really excited because this was my last year at Warsaw. I’m moving now to a democratic school,” she said. “It’s a kind of foggy feeling—I’m really nervous, but also happy.” Asked about her summer plans, she smiled and said, “A lot of tanning, a lot—and not sleeping. Those are my plans.”
(In Israel, a democratic school is an alternative educational model that gives pupils a high degree of autonomy and a formal voice in how the school is run. The concept is inspired by schools such as Summerhill School in Suffolk, England, and Sudbury Valley School in Massachusetts, but has developed distinctive characteristics in Israel.)
Between the noise in the schoolyard, hugs from teachers and promises to meet during the summer, the long vacation seemed to begin exactly as the children had hoped: with a little chaos, a lot of joy and plenty of plans.
