As a high school student who loves a snow day as much as the rest, I never thought I would say that I truly hope there are no more. After a long winter resulting in four closures ranging from record breaking storms to days with barely any snow at all, the excitement of snow days has worn off. In fact, it’s been replaced by hatred.
I haven’t always been a snow day hater, however as the saying goes “too much of anything is a bad thing.” And in this case, too many snow days means my summer is shortened, and that is where I cross the line.
As of right now we are expected to end school Wednesday, June 24, 11 days longer than when we ended last year. This disheartening news could not have come at a worse time than my annual quarter three slump, but, there is a sliver of hope.
For those of you who aren’t aware, the Westport School District mandates two additional days more than what the state mandates, which means public schools in Westport must be open for a minimum of 182 days every school year, while the state only requires 180.
The board of education is discussing removing the requirement of these two days in order to give us back a portion of our hard earned summer.
And so, to the board of education I say, I plead with you to remove those two days. Here are two reasons why these two days should be removed.
Number one, by the time AP exams wrap up in early May, many of those courses have already covered the entirety of their curriculum. For students with AP heavy schedules, the weeks that follow often shift to lighter assignments and review.
On top of that, many AP sections are senior heavy, so once seniors leave, classes are smaller and less structured with less meaningful instruction.
Number two, June contains some of the only actual free time of the summer. As we all know the average overworking Staples student does not just simply take the whole summer to do nothing. A student’s summer is usually filled with sports, internships, jobs and if you’re a junior like me then applying to colleges.
However, June being so early into the summer, it is usually the quietest time of the summer, or the year for that matter because summer activities usually haven’t fully begun until July. So, pushing school further back erases that restful period before such activities ramp up, taking away the whole relaxing aspect of summer.
