For as long as time students have always wished for more time over the weekend. However, is implementing 4 day school weeks truly helpful or even possible?
Schools across the nation have begun switching to 4 day weeks with 2,100 schools running on this schedule. Of these 876 are public schools while the rest are private. Many begin the switch to the 4 day week in hopes of cutting costs or retaining teachers.
In an article by The Journalist’s Resource they found that while a 4 day week does increase interest from teachers in applying to the schools, it does not lead to money being saved. This pitfall obviously discourages many schools from switching their schedule.
The situation within the building however is quite different: teachers prefer 4 day weeks and staff morale is shown to be boosted. Additionally, students show a liking to this new schedule. Bullying and fighting is also shown to decrease across a 4 day week which is extremely important as the atmosphere inside the building is one of the most important factors of a school.
“I believe that the extra time would be useful to better understand the content of the course and rest to prepare for the next week,” explained Donovan Mirabal, a New Hartford student. “Additionally I feel the longer school days would be fine as long as it doesn’t stretch on too long.”
Donovan is a good example of a student who would benefit from a 4 day week. Schools that make up for the lost school day by extending school hours are shown to still maintain high academic standards. This makes 4 day weeks a great solution for exactly the reasons Donovan said.
For some students the additional rest over the weekend is pivotal. According to an article in Greenlight many students see improvement in test scores and overall performance. The additional time over the weekend isn’t only useful for students; many teachers also report they prefer more time to plan out lessons and grade faster. This also adds into the performance of the students and helps to cultivate a better controlled learning environment with interesting assignments and effective teaching.
Among the benefits and detriments that come with a 4 day week the benefits seem to outweigh many of the potential downsides. Thus a 4 day week would be beneficial across the nation to better focus and refresh both students and teachers alike.
