As finals are approaching, students look forward to one thing above all: summer break. It’s a time for youth to forget about their school responsibilities and just enjoy life, a much needed period after a long and tiring school year. However, the San Diego Unified School District’s (SDUSD) future instructional calendars show that this year’s summer break is going to end a week earlier than usual. While the move may sound unnecessary, it will ultimately be more beneficial to students.

   For quite a while now, students attending schools in SDUSD have been starting their school year at the end of August and ending the school year by mid-June. According to the SDUSD website, the 2023-2024 academic school year is scheduled to start on August 21, and the 2024-25 year (the one after next year) is scheduled to start on August 12. The shift from August 29 this school year (2022-2023) to August 12 in 2024-2025 may seem drastic, but for every time the start date gets pushed earlier, the end date follows suit. No matter the change in dates for the calendars, schools in the San Diego Unified District will still have the exact same 180 regular school days, as well as the same amount of time for the holidays. The 2024-25 academic school year is due to end May 29 (sandiegounified.org). While this summer may be shortened a week, the summer break will only be shifted earlier with the instructional year.

   Why this change? SDUSD made these changes in the instructional calendars for the next couple years to improve the timing of semesters and sports. According to the San Diego Unified Council of PTAs, the goal is that, “The fall semester would be completed by Winter Break.” This would mean no continuing lessons after two weeks of no school and no studying for midterms over the break, a convenience for all students. Students would have the chance to relax during their breaks instead of cramming for exams. 

   The website added, “District high school sports would be aligned with other schools that start mid-August [and] students who work during the summer are not disadvantaged by getting out later than students at other schools” (sdcouncilpta.org). Junior Bella Giron stated, “There seems to be many advantages of these schedule changes that will benefit students in the SDUSD. I don’t see any disadvantages to this, as the amount of school days stays the same.” Being able to apply for summer jobs to start working at the same time as those students in other school districts means SDUSD students will not be at a disadvantage anymore, and sports teams will be on a more even playing field.

    The new schedule means students in AP classes will end up with an extra two weeks before their AP tests. AP World History and Art History Teacher Jonathan Schiller stated, “I think it’s going to be super beneficial on a couple of levels. It will give us more time to review, but also those two weeks give us flexibility to do some of the more ‘fun’ things that are useful in terms of learning the information. It’s nice to take a break and do something unique every once in a while. This gives us more flexibility to do those things. I am looking forward to the extra two weeks.” Schiller added, “Other schools have been starting school in early August for a while now. It feels like it has put our students at a disadvantage when it comes to being as prepared.” Students will inevitably be better prepared and those test scores will probably go up.

     While at first these new schedule changes may seem like another unnecessary District change, truthfully, they aim to benefit students and staff. The new schedule will include the exact same amount of days and the same times for holidays, but will allow for less stress during the holidays among other important advantages.