Should schools consider a four-day week? Why an abbreviated school week could actually work

By Liam McDonough Opinion Editor

It is no question that many students this year have been pushed to the brink with heavy workloads, extracurriculars and outside responsibilities. Unfortunately, if students are looking for a break in the chaos, they are going to have to wait several months. The problem with the current school year format is how overwhelming it can become, day in and day out, for five days a week, 40 weeks a year. In fact, in a 2020 survey done by Yale University, approximately 80 percent of high school students around the country reported feeling stressed and overwhelmed from academic rigor. And when students finally make it through the week, their reward comes in the form of a two-day break that is usually spent by doing more schoolwork in order to prepare for the week ahead. While it may seem like an impossible problem to solve, the root of this issue is very apparent: there is simply not enough time to live stress-free with the challenges of school towering over students. During the week, five days are spent in anticipation of the weekend, with students trying to deal with many different aspects of their own lives. Then, the two days of the weekend are meant for recovery, but there is barely any time to recover. The solution to this is an idea that is constantly brought up, yet repeatedly dismissed because of its radical approach: a four day school week. When it is initially considered, a four day school week seems inefficient and unprofessional, given the fact that it just seems like a way to extend the weekend for students; however, this concept has only been analyzed on a surface level. If a four day week was actually considered, the benefits would be made much more clear to people.

First of all, a shortened week would provide students and teachers with much more time to complete all academic work. With this additional time, students would be able to realistically manage their homework, along with their outlying activities. With the opportunity to handily accomplish all their tasks, students, as well as teach- ers, will feel less pressured during the weekend to rush to get their work done in order to come into school on Monday wound-up and sleep-deprived. Secondly, a four day week would lead to a better overall academic performance from students. An abbreviated week would allow for students to gain more sleep, which helps immensely with memory retention. In that same survey conducted by Yale University, approximately 70 percent of participants reported that they feel inattentive and bored during the school day. If this adjusted schedule was implemented, it would lessen the amount of information thrown at students during the school week, and, in turn, help them to learn in a more progressive, engaging and spaced-out manner. One of the biggest rebuttals for this argument is how it would dramatically decrease the length of the school year by more than a month’s worth of school days. If summer vacation and midyear school vacations were to be shortened, though, the lost time would be made up with ease. And although students and teachers may disagree with this approach at first, it could very well lead to an increase in quality of life in the long term.