Advancement Day

Shortly after the new year, the minor holiday called Advancement Day is used to mark a person's progress from one year to the next. This is when schoolchildren graduate from one grade and go onto the next, or when promotions and raises are calculated for office workers. Any students- or workers who get spring break- get a month off following the holiday, from about May 1 to June 1.
Typically, people make New Year's resolutions on the vernal equinox to get their grades or work performance in better shape before it gets heavily scrutinized, and the rest of the spring is a time to buckle down and get things done.

History

It originally started as a holiday for schoolchildren to mark the progress to the next grade. The Order of the Scribes, the guild responsible for Basic education, has historically rallied against the concept of general educational standards, in accordance with the tenets of their faith that say that anyone should be able to study whatever they'd like. One of the first standards they were pushed into complying with was grade levels- introducing students to age-appropriate concepts. Due to the difficult logistics of keeping track of, and changing grade levels on, each student's birthday, they decided to create Advancement Day.

• Basic school grade levels were first implemented in 1100.
• The first Advancement Day was celebrated in 1101, and it became a guild-wide event in 1114.
• The first non-Order recognition of this event was a small, guildless sales team in 1106.
• Advancement Day was pronounced a legal holiday in 1115.

Execution

For young children, Advancement Day is marked by a school festival, where students show the community something they're proud of from that year. Advancement Day projects are taken pretty seriously; after they're displayed, they're kept in a filing cabinet for the duration of the student's Basic school career, and the collection is often used by guild schools as one of the factors they use to determine admission.
For students in guild school, Advancement Day is less of a big deal, but some students will still be required to submit projects or display exam grades, depending on their guild and chosen career path. Many go out partying to celebrate having survived another year. Advancement Day is also the deadline for application to many apprenticeships.
For adults, it's mostly a series of performance reviews beforehand. Companies will announce raises and promotions on Advancement Day, which usually go into effect on the next work day.

Observance

Advancement Day always falls on May 1st. Celebrations are typically held on the closest Friday, or whenever the administration of an individual school decided the last day should be, typically within a few days of May 1.