Summer, the longest break of the year, when students and teachers alike have the chance to relax, vacation, rejuvenate, and rest. When given the news that school began on August 12 this year, rather than the later dates of previous years, many families were shocked. Despite the feeling that summer was cut short, this change will be an overall beneficial one, allowing for a simpler and more stress-free semester shift, additional time to study for AP exams, and a head start on college applications.
Despite what some may think, the upcoming summer will not get any shorter due to the change in start date. Summer simply shifted to earlier in the year, so this summer will last from May 29 to August 11, still giving families and staff ten weeks off from school. Principal Mike Paredes said, “I think that it needs some getting used to, such as for families who plan summer vacations who will have to plan them earlier, in June or July instead of mid-August. I hope that our community will feel like the next summer will be a bit more normal, as school ends on May 29, giving students the full summer to rest and prepare for the next year ahead.”
The primary reason for this change to the calendar was to fully separate semesters one and two from each other using Winter Break as a divider, according to School Psychologist Laura Alles. “I see a bunch of students saying, ‘I’ll get it done during the break.’ When the break comes, they procrastinate, and they never give themselves an actual break or get the work done. So they come back to school stressed, having forgotten what’s due, and then the semester ends on them. It happens with teachers too. Having this hard deadline that the semester is done will force everyone to have two weeks off and allow us to relax,” said Alles. This new system allows students and teachers to get all work completed and submitted by the semester; then after the break, a brand new semester starts, providing a fresh start.
This schedule shift significantly benefits AP students, as school has started earlier but exams have not moved, allowing extra studying time. “With so much time pre- loaded in August, teachers will have a much easier time getting through their entire curriculum. Having so much extra time in August, this year is going to flow so much more easily and by the time the test rolls around, I think students and teachers are going to feel more prepared and that they’ve truly covered everything that they needed to cover for the exam,” said AP United States Government Teacher Michele Fournier, who has been teaching AP classes for the past 22 years.
Some seniors have expressed their dislike of the change, as they argue it limits the time for students to work on college applications, because their time is filled with schoolwork. This sparks the argument that school assists with college applications, as it gets students into a work-central mindset, making the transition to college applications easier. Alles said, “A lot of seniors say that they’ll start college applications when school starts instead of during the summer, so this gives them a head start on getting letters of recommendation from teachers and starts to get them in the working mindset again.” Additionally, schools offer college application workshops that allow students to focus their time on their applications with assistance, rather than just focusing on school work or other possible distractions.
As we continue through the school year, the struggles that we face from the schedule shifting earlier into summer will turn from a negative towards a positive. Less stress on students, extra time to flesh out AP work material, and a better alignment with college application deadlines are a few of the top reasons as to why this new schedule will help, not hurt students. Plus, we get out in May!