Most students, families, and staff have noticed that this year’s winter break is shorter than usual. This year’s winter break at LSHS is a day shorter than last year and last year’s break was two days shorter than the previous break. Each year’s break is predetermined by the ISD-194 district. I believe it’s not a very good idea to work on a schedule that changes every year. It results in people leaving early to see family and there doesn’t seem to be that much academic improvement in the extra couple of days in school.
Because of its shortened length, many students take extra days off of school before the winter break. I surveyed my AP Human Geography class and found that out of 31 students who answered, 9 will be leaving early and 5 will most likely be leaving early. I added the students who will be leaving early to the number who will probably be leaving early and found that about 45% of students in this class alone will not/most likely be absent before winter break. Teachers will have to reteach lessons to those absent students. This repetition of course material takes away time to learn new material when all students are present.
As a student in the ISD-194 school system most of my days before winter break have been spent distracted with friends and thoughts of break. I have noticed that teachers will not teach new lessons during this time and instead will often create games for students to play. Therefore, I don’t see the benefit of these days leading up to winter break. I think this time could be better used at home spending time with family and friends and taking a mental health break. Students’ time in the classroom isn’t linked to our success and this is also illustrated by this quote from Walden University (1): “U.S. teachers already spend more time in the classroom than most other developed nations,§ many of which have higher student achievement.”
I believe it would benefit LSHS and the ISD-194 school system to turn our breaks into longer and more consistent ones every year. This would help teachers not have to repeat lessons so students can learn, and give students more days at home to spend time with their families.
