Everyone has a wish. For some, it may be something as extraordinary as going to the moon, but for others it’s as simple as skipping school for one day. Many students have yearned for the school year to end earlier, and so their wishes have been granted. Starting with the 2013-2014 year, the Bernards Board of Education established a new school schedule according to results of the parent survey held during the previous spring. Corresponding to the survey results, the Bernards Township students will now on have a shorter February break and get out of school earlier.
However, there still have been complaints about the new school schedule. Some of these protests are about the shortened February break, which was curtailed from a week to two days. As Asha Krishnan ’17 expresses, “Some students such as myself, study during these breaks. Thus, shortening school breaks could become a problem.”
But why did the Bernard Board of Education change the school schedule in the first place? This year, the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah started very early: Thursday, September 5th. As a result, the Board of Education decided for its students to just start school later than usual on Monday, September 9th. This holiday changed the normal schedule, and so the students had to go to school during holidays which they previously had off such as Yom Kippur and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and they received a shorter February break as well.
On the other hand, although February break has been shortened, Ridge students are able to leave school earlier than the years before. Thus, many students are happy about leaving school earlier because, as David Holmes ’15 states, “getting out earlier for summer gives me more time to do different activities like summer programs/camps offered at colleges.” By ending school earlier, not only does it allow the students to go and try different activities as David mentions, but it also gives students who travel abroad more time.
Though some students are excited about how school is ending earlier this year, others still don’t like the loss of time over breaks in between the school year; thus, by granting some wishes, some new wishes have been created.