Pros & Cons of Getting Out Earlier / Coming Back to School Earlier

Grace Staver ‘21, Staff Writer

Background:

This year, our summer break will end one week earlier than normal; however, that also means that next year, our summer break starts one week earlier! We will start the school year of 2019/2020 on August 18th, and our last day of school will be on May 21st, 2020.

Pros:

There are many pros to this new schedule, and students see the good in this situation, as getting out earlier and coming back to school earlier has many pros. First of all, the final stretch between spring break and summer (because everyone counts the days left), is shorter. Plus, Memorial Day weekend won’t just be a three day weekend, it will be summer! With this shorter time in school between spring break and summer, students will feel more motivated to increase their productivity during the final stretch of school. Also, for the students taking the AP exams during the first few weeks of May, as soon as you’ve completed those, you are done with school! Lastly, because of this schedule change, we will be taking finals before winter break, and then we won’t have to be stressed over our two-week break.

Cons:

Although there are many positives to the new schedule, there are also impacts that may not be popular among the Marymount community. August is the hottest month of summer, the best time to go to the beach; coming back to school in this hot, summer weather will make us wish that we were still on break. The hot weather may be unfitting for students to focus on their work during school because it’ll be easy for anyone to get dehydrated; then, during school, all you are focusing on is how hot you are, and not the work you’re doing. Additionally, late May and early June are too foggy and gloomy to get into the summer spirit. And finally, since the change is being made this year, the Summer of 2019 will be cut a week short, as we will be let out at the normal time and then returning a week earlier.