Two less days. The district took school time away from students by adding two more days to holiday break.

For some, a Christmas miracle arrived with these extra days off; but for others, this may mean life or death for grades. With the end of the second quarter, midterm exams and only 10 days post-break, students would have benefited from those two days additional days of teaching and learning.

 Some teachers hadn’t gotten around to or neglected talking about exams, or hadn’t handed out exam study tools prior to break. While students had the opportunity to study with previous worksheets and notes, since most students and teachers weren’t even talking about exams, students weren’t in the mindset or motivated to study over break.

With the extra two days gone, students are left with only a week and a half until exams and the end of the quarter. This leaves little time to study and get grades together. Students who play catch up are left to their own with a week to catch up on homework, tests and projects. 

Upon return to school—with two less days in the quarter—teachers were forced to cram in tests, projects and extra homework; which doesn’t help students who need to catch up. 

These extra days off are a stressor in disguise. 

Sure, everyone wants more time off; but, it’s not worth coming back from break and having so much to do with school. Not to mention, high school students deal with outside school time commitments, such as: sports, clubs, college, preparing scholarships and work. Add in extra work, and some students will sink. 

The school district needs to be more up front about their official calendar and make decisions prior to the start of the school year, so families, students and teachers can plan accordingly.