In the Clark County School District, there are five days in a school week, however, some are starting to wonder if it is too much. Over the last decade or so, the four day week has become quite popular among certain districts. With budgeting troubles, they have found a four day week to be much easier to manage. This also helps with the teacher shortages because more teachers are willing to travel longer distances to work the shorter week. So, the following question remains “Should all districts convert to a four day school week?”
Many teachers become educators because they want to help develop the young minds of the world, but even if they love it, they need breaks too. Sick days and rest days are needed for everyone, and that includes teachers.
The same goes for students. Students are constantly getting burnt out with the piles of schoolwork that is given to them, and often there is never enough time for it to be done. They try and try, but slowly their grades drop, and so does their attendance. They no longer want to come. And oftentimes, it’s not because they don’t want to learn anymore, but because they can’t keep up with everything.
With a four day week, a lot of these problems would be helped. Students would be less stressed and would have a better attendance rate and grades.
According to lifeschool.net “Many Life School students and parents report reduced feelings of stress and burnout. A shorter school week means fewer days of intense academics, allowing everyone to recharge over the long weekend.”
Everyone always craves the week they have four days of school, they long for it, especially as they get older and the schoolwork becomes more intense.
If given the opportunity, I would choose a four day school week because it would give us more of a break. A four day school week would allow us to take more time to focus on ourselves with a little less stress.
— Senior, Bryn Layton
However, some beg to differ with this idea.
They believe that in choosing to do a four day school week it ends up making student achievement suffer. Some tend to also find it hard with young children, since many parents and guardians need to work.
According to writers of rand.org “The potential long-term learning deficit in student achievement from the four-day school week is, our findings suggest, not trivial.”
Finding a solution for bettering mental health, learning situations, and for parents/guardians is tricky and not the easiest task. And maybe a four day week isn’t the best solution for right now, but hopefully there will be a solution that will work out in everyone’s favor one day.
