We did Christmas carols too. If you didn't like them you could stuff your fingers in your ears.
December was always fun. I was in 'enriched curriculum' classes so many of the students and some of the teachers were Jewish. Chanukah floats around but it was usually good for a lot of missing faces for a week in early December. Then there was the Christmas vacation. You might think it would be back to normal when everyone got back after New Years but then the Russian and Ukrainian kids did Russian Christmas. This year Chanukah is on the late end of the scale, December 30, so no joy there.
It was good training for later life. It's been my experience that despite all the schedules and implementation roadmaps nothing ever happens in December.