Arts & Lifestyle How Does Menlo Decide Which Days to Give off School?

by JACOB REICH

Every October, Menlo’s senior administration team meets to start creating the calendar for the following school year. According to Director of Strategic Communications Shayne Olson, the team aims to publish the final schedule by Dec. 1. However, the leadership team must consider many factors regarding scheduling decisions before publication.

According to Olson, Menlo’s calendar uses floating holidays, which are days off that Menlo plans for specific months of the year; they are not set dates and are chosen for different days and holidays each year. “[Menlo] plans a floating holiday in October and an employee professional development day in November,” Olson said.

When planning floating holidays, the fact that Menlo students come from many different backgrounds and celebrate different holidays is taken into consideration. “Members of Menlo’s senior administrative team work collaboratively to build a schedule that will honor as many of those holidays as possible, while maintaining a regular rhythm and cadence of learning,” Olson said. Menlo must also complete the minimum number of school days required by California: 180 days.

Additionally, administrators try to plan days off from school on Mondays or Fridays, conveniently creating threeday weekends. According to Olson, long weekends make traveling easier for students and faculty and offer students the chance to complete college tours.

During the 2022-23 school year, Menlo did not provide a day off for the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur. According to Olson, this is because Yom Kippur fell on Wednesday, Oct. 5, making it impossible to schedule a three-day weekend around the holiday. While Menlo still had school on Oct. 5, some Jewish students, including sophomore Julie Stein, opted to skip the day and attend synagogue instead.

According to Stein, although the holiday fell on a Wednesday, having the day off still would’ve been beneficial. “I think that [Yom Kippur is] a significant holiday for Jewish people,” Stein said. “It was a lot to miss school, and it would be helpful [for the administration to give us the day off].”

According to Olson, the school still tries to support students who miss school for religious reasons by planning blackout days for holidays that do not have the school day off. Blackout days prohibit major assessments and large projects from being scheduled or due for that day by teachers.

Like Yom Kippur, Menlo has not canceled school on Veterans Day or Indigenous Peoples Day for many years. According to Olson, if these holidays coincide with the planned floating holidays, then Menlo may give Veterans Day or Indigenous Peoples Day off. But this is rare, meaning school is usually still scheduled. “I think we should get [these holidays] off, as I’d rather have the school year be a few days longer and have those days off,” junior Nathan Chan said. “I’m not sure whether [or] not having those days off sends an implicit message that those holidays aren’t as important, but I think the administration should consider that thought when making schedules.”

According to Upper School Director John Schafer, there is no specific reason Menlo doesn’t give these holidays off. Menlo tries to observe most national holidays and chooses holidays that fall on Mondays or Fridays while also considering the rhythm of the school calendar. Although Indigenous Peoples Day is always on a Monday, the day does not align well with the Menlo calendar, so administrators plan a different day off during the first quarter instead.