What is a Four Day School Week?
Many schools across the U.S. are moving to a 4-day school week system. Starting this school year, students in states such as Missouri have had Mondays off each week, with 35 extra minutes added to each day to make up for lost time. Not just schools in Missouri have this new schedule; 900
districts currently use the 4-day school week schedule, primarily districts in rural areas. These schools in rural areas are experiencing teacher shortages. They use the 4-day week as a method to attract and retain more teachers at their schools. Closer to St. Thomas Aquinas, schools including Chiles Academy and Hillsborough County have switched to a 4-day school week (albeit for different reasons).
So will St. Thomas Aquinas change over? We will have to wait and see.
Student’s Opinions
Upon speaking with students at STA about their opinions on a 4-day school week, we found that, as expected, a lot of students would enjoy it. However, surprisingly enough, many people disagreed as well.
A junior on the varsity soccer team agreed that a 4-day school week would be an upgrade: “Right now, I barely get time to relax on the weekend.The extra day would be amazing.” A freshman related, saying, “The weekend goes by in the blink of an eye.” Another student interviewed said, “I spend a lot of time over the weekend doing homework, so the extra day I could use to hang out with my friends and have fun”. Many other students had responses similar to these; they agreed that a longer weekend would be enjoyable and beneficial. However, some students argued that a longer weekend and shorter week would not make school any better. A Sophomore soccer player said she “wouldn’t want any extra time added to the end of [her] day.” She argued that adding 35 minutes to her schedule would push everything back and give her no time after school to relax. Another student, a Senior, said, “I’m okay with having 5 day weeks because we have half days and long weekends more often. I would rather have that than have longer school days and no school Monday”. Finally, a Junior said that no matter how many extra days off students got, they would still procrastinate on their work.
Teacher’s Opinions
After getting students’ opinions, we interviewed a couple of teachers on their opinions. A math teacher stated that “It would be both good and bad” to have a 4-day school week. In her opinion, “a 4 day school week might seem attractive but it would make things a lot more difficult.” In contrast, an honors English teacher exclaimed, “I would love a 4-day school week! Long weekends are the best.” Finally, a Theology teacher agreed that “a 4-day school week would do more benefit than harm.” After weighing both sides, the teacher agreed, “a 4-day school week would be a nice break as a teacher.”
Final Thoughts
After speaking to both students and teachers, we can conclude that most students and teachers would not be against a 4-day school week. While it is unlikely to happen at STA, we can still keep our eyes out in case the trend continues to rapidly spread.
