Students Rally Behind the Four-Day Week Revolution

Students and teachers alike love a day off from school, and with innovations in scheduling, some students and teachers around the country are getting a day off every week. In a new approach to an age old arrangement, some schools are experimenting with a four day school week. 

Many educators believe that a shorter week helps students be more mentally focused in classes and enables teachers to better prepare for those classes. Some schools decided to take Monday off, others chose Friday. 

The extra day off is still put to good use. For example, some schools have open tutoring sessions during normal school hours and others have offered service opportunities. Teachers use the day to plan for the upcoming week, allowing them to develop more in-depth and efficient lesson plans.

While students enjoy three day weekends, some schools reported challenges with the new schedule. To ensure students are afforded the same number of instructional hours, the school day has been extended. C Consequently, some students appear to be tired at the end of the day, and younger students especially struggle to stay attentive.

Particularly in elementary school, there are parents who are burdened with  day care expenses on the weekday without school. However, many of the schools who have gone to the shortened week have determined the change is beneficial for both students and faculty.

Missouri leads the nation in this experiment. In the 2022-2023 school year, almost 25% of schools incorporated the four day school week. Other states such as Arkansas and Texas have schools adopting the new schedule, but modifying the structure of the school week takes a long time.

I think that a four day school week would greatly benefit everyone in the Charlotte Catholic community. In my opinion, the biggest problem with school is that by the end of the week, students struggle to give 100% in the classroom because they are drained from the previous days. Also, teachers have to grade papers, give lessons, and plan classes. Sometimes this carries over into the weekends, meaning that some teachers never get a real break from work.

It is necessary to give teachers their well-deserved break and allow the students enough time to recover and focus on the upcoming week. Even if the other school days have to be extended in order to compensate for the day off, I believe that this is a favorable change for all involved.

(Credit: Google)