It’s 6:00 am. Time to wake up. Go to school. Go to practice. Go home. Repeat. Wouldn’t a day off be nice? Four-day school weeks would benefit the students that are feeling this constant cycle.

Over 1,600 schools in America were on a four day school week as of 2019, according to The Rand Blog. So many schools have tried it and it has worked for them, so why hasn’t NAHS tried it? 

The four-day work week gained popularity during Covid when offices were lower staffed and it wasn’t safe to have everyone in the office all the time. While some offices went remote some just opted for the four day work week and most of them have stuck with it, according to Computer World News. 

The main advantage of a four-day school week is that students have more time to reset. They can work on projects at home and homework. Students can also catch up on work they have missed or sleep that they are missing out on because of school. Having a four-day school week also reduces burnout, according to The Rand Blog. Burnout can be a lot on a student causing grades to drop and quality of life to drop. I personally experience a lot of burnout especially during the end of the school year. Even that one day would help me reset enough to prevent the burnout.

Another positive is that the school has to pay less for bus driver salary and fuel since students are at home another day. The fifth day of the week could be a virtual day; but, if the school has no school completely then they won’t have to pay teachers for that day either. 

A negative, however, is if the students parents or guardians have work then the student and their siblings if they have them would be home alone. Some parents or guardians may need to get a babysitter or someone to watch their kids. However, once students get to high school they can usually care for themselves, making this not an issue for high school students. 

While having one less day a week doesn’t seem that bad, it would cause schools to have an extra nine weeks of school, according to WWLP News. Students need, by Indiana law, to be at school for at least six hours a day for grades 7-12 and five hours for grades 1-6. Another negative is that low-income students wouldn’t have meals on the day school isn’t in session. That is another meal that can impact these families greatly. 

But while student attendance can vary, in schools that have had four-day school weeks most students showed an improvement in attendance, according to Thought Co. This is because parents can schedule things like dental or medical appointments, on the day school is out, instead of having their child miss school.

Four-day school weeks also allow students to pursue outside interests. When they don’t have school they can go and explore something that they haven’t gotten to try due to school. Especially students in sports or students with jobs who don’t have time for other activities after school. For example, I’ve always wanted to crochet, however, I don’t have time because I have school and I’m a dancer. I don’t have time after school due to practice and I want to spend time with friends and family on the weekends. But the day I have off, I would get to explore crocheting without any limits.

Students may experience less burnout while having a four-day school week, however if they play a sport and don’t practice that sport on the day they are out the competitiveness of these sports may suffer. This may upset students who are competitive and love their sport. This would mostly affect sports who practice everyday after school and not just once or twice a week.

The four-day school week would improve work-life balance between teachers and students, according to Ling. Most students have to do a lot of homework and projects and this extra day would help separate school and their home life. Teachers sometimes have to grade outside of school, prepare their plans and assignments. The extra day would help teachers as well.

Students could also spend more time with their friends and family outside of school because they have that day off. Parents and students prefer the four-day work week, according to OnFocus News. 

It is clear that having a four-day school week would bring lots of benefits to the school system and the well-being of students and teachers.