Why is the school week 5 days long? I don’t know about you, but I don’t do much on Fridays. I would much rather have a Wednesday off and have every other day be a little longer. There are many benefits of a 4-day school week. One major benefit is improved mental health, students would get a break in the middle of the week to get homework done.
What are the pros and cons? Some pros include better mental health, more time for teachers to work on grades, and letting schools save money. If students have a day off in the middle of the week, they have more time to relax, and not get overwhelmed by school. Teachers would have a whole extra day to work on grades. Schools would be able to save money by not having to operate the school for one less day a week. A few of the cons would be you can’t fit as many lessons in 4 days and holiday breaks will be shorter. In order to account for the missing day, the school day would likely have to be extended by an hour each day. And as a result of having one less day a week, holiday breaks would have to be shorter to ensure summer starts on time. This all sounds good, but some students might abuse this by using the time to do something illegal since everyone would be at work.
What are the mental health effects of having a 5-day school week? A study posted on NIH.gov about “Adolescent Health Behaviors in Schools with 4- Versus 5-Day School Weeks” has researched this topic extensively. This is what they found: “A 4-day school week was associated with several positive health outcomes (improved student engagement, decreased substance use behaviors, decreased non-school screen time, and increased physical activity) as well as several negative health outcomes (increased bullying, increased sexual activity, and decreased sleep and breakfast consumption).” From this information, it is clear that a 4-day school week isn’t perfect, but neither is our current system.
I asked a few Bingham students for their opinions. Mikenzie McIntyre said, “I think [having Wednesdays off] could be a good idea. Everyone dreads Mondays; that’s just a given. Knowing that they technically only have two days of school until a short break, I feel like it might reduce stress, people can catch up on sleep, and everything that falls under that category. Plus, on Thursday and Friday everyone might be well rested and more productive when they come back.” She also brought up a very good point, she said, “Also, having the one hour classes on Fridays, it kind of messes with the teachers and how they plan out their class so one isn’t too far ahead or behind,” and I think that is a very good point. I feel teachers would heavily support this idea for that reason alone.
Another student, Gracie Clark, said, “I think [having Wednesdays off] should be a thing. I hate having to get up on Wednesdays, they are such a drag.” I think most students would agree with this, having a day off in the middle of the week would be amazing. Students get to have a break and catch up on life. Many students aren’t able to do anything throughout the week because they’re at school all week. If we had no school on Wednesdays, students would be able to work then.
Shorter school weeks have many benefits, including better mental health, more time for planning, and schools saving money! Of course, there are many cons too: more bullying, students get less sleep, and students eat breakfast less. Even though the school day would likely be longer and holiday breaks would be shorter, I think many students and teachers can agree that the pros outweigh the cons.
Some states want to discourage four-day school weeks
But in recent years, just shy of 1,000 districts in states like Arizona , Arkansas , Colorado , Kansas , Nebraska , New Mexico , North Dakota , Oregon , and Texas have moved to a four-day weekly schedule, often dropping either Monday or Friday.
A four-day school week makes this ratio more even (4:3) and could reinvigorate students and increase their learning capability. A study by the Life School of Dallas has shown that a four-day school week helps with mental health and wellbeing, which can lead to potentially higher test scores.
Less school is something that many students wouldn't mind, but for the Banner County, Conestoga, Wynot, Hay Springs, Weeping Water, and Minatare school districts in Nebraska, it's a reality. These districts are on a four-day school week, along with nearly 900 districts across the United States.
Iceland, Japan, and France are among the countries that have begun to adopt a four-day week in some sectors, with that extra day typically being allotted on either Wednesday or Friday, or being left to individuals' discretion. But this kind of set up might not be for everyone.
Four-day weeks have been adopted in almost 900 school districts nationwide, the Associated Press reported in September 2023 . That's up markedly from even four years earlier, in 2019, when about 650 districts in 24 states had adopted the schedule .
While 103 Texas school districts and 115,000 students attend classes four days a week in Texas, for context, there are more than 1,500 school districts with over five-million students throughout the state.
In addition, some studies have shown that student attendance improves under a four-day school week. With a longer weekend, students have more time to rest and engage in extracurricular activities, which can lead to better attendance during the week. This, in turn, can lead to improved academic performance.
Results indicate that four-day school weeks decrease per-pupil bullying incidents by approximately 31% and per-pupil fighting incidents by approximately 27%, but have no detectable effect on other incident types, ACT scores, or attendance.
The earliest four-day school week may have been implemented in the Madison Central School District, Madison, South Dakota in 1931 (Hunt, 1936). This unique program scheduled the required academic subjects for four days a week and extra-curricular activities on the fifth day.
An exception is if either the elementary or secondary grades are closed and provided that this time missed is made up at some other point during the school calendar so as to meet the minimum of 180 days or 1,080 hours of instruction for all grade levels 1 through 12 (IAC 281--12.1(8)).
What States Have Four-Day School Weeks? Several states have introduced four day school weeks, including Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Oklahoma, and Oregon. In fact, 60 percent of Colorado's districts and around 40 percent of New Mexico and Oregon's districts have implemented a four-day school week.
Finland and Brazil, known for their progressive educational systems, average a 5-hour school day, focusing on efficiency and student well-being. Germany presents the shortest average school day, with students spending only 4 hours and 30 minutes in school.
South Korea is often cited as having one of the longest school years and the shortest summer vacation among countries worldwide. In South Korea, the school year typically runs for about 220 to 230 days, and summer vacation is relatively short, usually around 30 days.
Four states require more than 180 days, with Kansas as the leader. The Sunflower State mandates 186 days for kindergarten through 11th grade (and 181 days for 12th grade). Overall, the average requirement, among the states that have one, is 179 days. A minimum school year of 180 days has been the norm for a long time.
Florida and Georgia are the only states on the East coast that currently have any school districts taking advantage of this model. Most of the school districts with 4 day weeks are in rural areas.
CANTON, Ohio (WJW) — This upcoming school year, two Ohio school districts are making a radical change – transitioning to a four-day school week. It's a move administrators say will help reduce teacher burnout and help retain teachers amid a nationwide shortage of teachers.
Minimum length of a day is 3 hours, but the average over a 2-week period must be at least 5 hours. Schools must be open for pupil attendance for at least 3 hours.
Introduction: My name is Aron Pacocha, I am a happy, tasty, innocent, proud, talented, courageous, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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