On Presidents’ Day weekend, La Jolla High students will have four days off from school. While some kids eagerly await the break, others may be wondering if it really benefits them. In fact, four-day weekends are not advantageous because they interrupt classrooms’ flow of learning and decrease the amount of days that students get off in the summertime. 

Long weekends are inconvenient for some teachers’ instruction. Physics teacher Mr. Lindenblatt describes four-day weekends as “a break in the momentum” of student’s learning. “Having consecutive days of school is helpful if [students] are trying to build a certain skill. When you have a break, you have to do more review,” he said. Students find these holidays disorienting as well. “I feel unprepared [to come back] unless I do work over the break,” Freshman Angelina Kwan admitted. 

Also, long weekends extend the school year. According to SanDiegoUnified.org, “The district shall offer 180 days of instruction per school year.” To meet this requirement, the district must compensate for giving extra days off during the school year by adding instructional days to ostensible summer vacation. Summertimes are not just for lazing around, as they provide time for students to pursue other important activities like summer jobs, which provide teens with working experience and help teach responsibility and independence. Cutting even a few days off summer vacation takes away from these beneficial opportunities.

A few students still appreciate longer breaks. Freshman AJ Khim said, “I feel well-rested and prepared to face school after a four-day weekend.” It is true that some students do feel this way, however, the school district would surely provide more extended weekends if they were truly proven to help student performance. Teens only “feel well-rested” after breaks because they occur so rarely that they are considered a treat. Clearly, due to inconveniences they create and the summer opportunities that they hinder, four-day weekends are unhelpful for students and staff.