Early release morphs to all day Friday in curricular trade-off

A new year has brought a new scheduling change. Early release Wednesdays have been done away with as school staff will now have roughly one Friday a month for professional development and work time while we students have a day to ourselves. Despite the change, those Wednesdays still feel fresh in our memories. Hump days are never pleasant, lumpy and awkward as the name presents. Too far out from the new week to feel fun and fresh, and too close to the start to lead up to the weekend. At least early release Wednesdays helped in cutting these dreary days short, but not everyone fully embraced the development day that has now been modified. As students, we weren’t able to benefit from only 35 minutes of class. Most of the early release days felt rushed, which made it difficult for students to make any real progress in the curriculum. Overall, these random sessions were hectic and not enjoyable.

As for teachers, they also felt like they weren’t making any real progress. A shortened class period made their job harder and sometimes felt like a “wasted day”. The only real concern teachers had with the change to Friday are the excess in meetings.

As students, we feel Fridays off is a positive change. While early release Wednesdays were a nice break in the week, it was often difficult getting home from school. Parents had to rearrange their schedules to pick kids up in the middle of the day, and students taking the city bus home had to wait at school for nearly three hours. Having a half day off seems pointless to students who spent it waiting for buses at school. 

Students were also confused by the shortened classes and wacky schedule. Having fifth hour before fourth hour made early release days more complicated than necessary, yet there was no other option since students would otherwise be eating too early. Discarding early release days will resolve this issue. 

The Fridays off will also serve as a day of mental and physical rest for students as they move throughout the school year. With the amount of homework, and extracurricular activities the average West student will experience, the amount of stress generated can sometimes be unbearable. With a Friday off each month, some of that stress will be eliminated, giving students something to look forward to each month.

These days off will allow students to study, catch up on late or missing work to advance their grades, or even procrastinate and give themselves a well deserved break from the endless stress. It’s a day to catch up on homework but also relax and allow students to hang out with their friends. 

With Fridays off, some families will use the weekend for a getaway, while others relax at home. Regardless, we all look forward to kicking our feet back thanks to the early release straw that broke the humpday’s back. 

by Jasmine Blustin and Haniya Mecci

Published October 3, 2022

Oshkosh West Index Volume 119 Issue I