Students spend around 1,080 hours per school year sitting in a classroom. Right now, most schools in the United States have a five-day work and school week. When looking at how many hours children spend time at school compared to being able to develop relationships with their parents and life outside of the classroom; the difference is significant. This system has been in action for as long as many can remember, but it’s time for a change.
This year many students went to school trying a whole new way of learning throughout the week; a four-day school week. This idea became more popular, especially after COVID, to keep students at home more often as much as possible. Still today and after the pandemic, schools are working hard to make the switch for their districts as well.
Many can say they are truly benefiting from the shorter school week. The national teacher shortage has been a recurring problem for many districts in recent years. Having the more ideal, shorter week could attract many more teachers. Having better qualified and quality teachers could benefit many school districts. Eliminating a full day of transportation, maintenance, food services, and many other daily costs could drastically help schools. This could lead to up to savings of around $5 million per year.
Having younger students spend more time with their families and develop family relationships would be very beneficial. The quality of life for students and teachers would be changed dramatically. Jennie Gentry, a mother from Missouri, has children in a school district participating in the four-day school week. She told ABC News, “I feel like they’re happier because they have that extra day to catch up. Kids are busier now, I mean they play so many sports and things like that now on the weekends, sometimes they don’t really get a break.” Thinking of a kid’s mental health should be one of the top priorities or reasons for this adapted process.
On the other hand, there are already around 900 school districts that have changed to this new school week, and many are vocalizing their complaints about how it is going. Originally the shortening of the week was many of the schools’ ways of dealing with the teacher shortage, not for the students’ sake. Aaron Pallas from Columbia University tells CBS News, “There’s not good evidence on the academic impact of the four-day school week right now.”
Many argue that there is too long of a break between class times which leads to students having a harder time retaining information. Others say that the longer days due to the required amount of time in class per year are causing younger students problems focusing and being able to handle the extra long assignments. Many families rely on public school systems to ensure their students are fed; having a shorter week causes even more stress to these families. There are so many ways to resolve each and every one of these problems. With enough time and consideration before putting the plan into action, the transition can be effortless and a no-brainer.
Focusing on a school in Missouri, the Independence School District has taken on this modern schedule. Much consideration and time was spent compiling the new and improved calendar for this year’s school year. Making up for the lost instructional time forced the school to add 35 minutes to each school day. The district decided that they would have daycare for students who do not have the care at home for a price of $30. This could certainly add up for some families, which could be a potential concern for this new system. Many families who are currently undergoing this change to their week have been concerned with making sure their children are looked after while they are at work. Having the school hold a daycare business definitely could help resolve this problem. Having the school still be occupied on this fifth day does eliminate the economic benefits they would receive if they were not accessing the school.
Currently, Poland and Austria are adopting this modern approach to education. Select schools in these countries mention that along with the shorter week comes fewer tests and lesson curricula. A school district in Poland is taking this whole process a step further and taking one week to devote their learning to out-of-school learning by going to science centers, taking hikes, and learning about craftsmanship.
On behalf of many students at Hudson High School, it would be very cool to see this new, modern change come to the school calendar at Hudson. A lot of time and discussion goes into completely rewriting the school calendar, but dissecting the pros and cons of the four-day school week should make this a serious consideration.
