OPINION

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By Hank Shield

Did you know that Collegiate’s academic calendar has 13 four-day weeks for students this year? What if we had four-day weeks every week?

This year, many schools have struggled to provide ways to help students relieve stress because of COVID-19. Some activities that provide excitement have been missing or changed, include school-sponsored events like Homecoming, movie night, Brunch, and other activities. The introduction of more four-day weeks has helped student stress. This year, you may have noticed that we have had more days off from school than in previous years. October felt like there wasn’t a single week that wasn’t four days long. On October 30, the Friday before Halloween, Collegiate decided to give us the day off as a gift. In an email to the school community, the school administration stated the day off was a “School Holiday from the Board of Trustees in appreciation of faculty and staff.” I, along with many other students, find weeks like this much more helpful with both my academic life and emotional well-being. 

With four-day weeks, I have more time on the weekends to relax and not stress about my upcoming school work. Maggie Rohr (‘22) said that she “think(s) Collegiate should move to three-day weekends, because four-day weeks are less stressful, and three days on the weekend would give you time to recharge before going back to school. I think that three-day weekends would overall be beneficial for students’ mental health.”

Katherine Goff (‘22) agreed in saying that she “feel[s] like three days is the perfect amount of time to socialize with friends, spend time with family, complete homework, and recharge for the week ahead. These past few weekends leading up to exams have felt rushed, and I feel as if there is rarely enough time to relax and prepare for the next week.”

Hayden Rollison (‘23) mentioned that “having three-day weekends would allow students to stay away from their computers and take time to focus on their mental health. Being on computers at school and then coming home and doing homework on their computers isn’t healthy.”

I asked other students which day they would rather have off, and Monday was the overall favorite, as opposed to Friday. Eric McDaniel (‘22) said “it makes the next week shorter,” and Will Pace (’22) stated that “it’s like when you enter the week, you have the mindset that you get the first day off rather than the last day off.”

I agree that Monday would be the prime day to have off, because school on a Friday has a much better vibe than school on a Monday. Having three-day weekends would allow students and faculty members to spend more time away from their screens and more time with their families. I think that all students would appreciate the extra day to help relieve stress, but I also believe that teachers and parents would benefit from this too. 

Although teachers may see this as less time to teach, I think that they could see this as an opportunity to also spend more time with their families away from school, and also as more time to prepare for future classes and material. An extra day off can benefit anyone’s overall attitude and energy. 

Some other benefits include a greater importance given to class time; students will be less likely to miss class, as there are fewer classes in a week, so they may be more engaged. A study from MIT found that schools that switched to four-day weeks saw an increase in performance of standardized testing among reading and math. An article written by the National Conference of State Legislatures found that math scores also increased. From a financial view, a school or district would also be able to save money regarding electricity, food, and other costs. 

Image credit: Georgia Heyward.

As an athlete that plays a sport outside of Collegiate (travel baseball), I have many weekends that are filled with tournaments in different states that require traveling for over three to four hours. After the tournaments, I usually end up getting home at 8 p.m. on a Sunday night and starting my homework, which I have been stressing about since Friday. Having a three-day weekend would definitely help me stay more relaxed in school and improve my mental health.

Collegiate should consider more four-day weeks, because it can benefit everyone, while removing stress from the students’, faculty members’, and parents’ shoulders.