The past few weeks of school have been full of testing, end-of-year projects, graduation exercises, and the ever-dreaded behavior issues that go along with a building full of 1,000+ antsy students. Back when I was in school, students would have half-days (8- 12 or 8-1) during testing OR for the last week of school. This allows students to come take their exams, grab lunch from the cafeteria and then go home. After two weeks straight of teachers and students being "locked" in first period for 3+ hours, I began to wonder how half-days could maybe actually improve the level of focus and concentration for our students these last few weeks. After being locked in with the same students and teacher for an extended period of time, students are bored, restless, and uninterested in the rest of the school day. After lunch, the last period of the day is often a "free period" where teachers struggle to teach because (1) students go home after their test anyways or (2) students AND teachers are burned out from the long morning. Even the best teacher struggles to keep these millennials engaged for that lengthy amount of time. Half-days could allow the students to focus more intensely on their exams and end-of-year projects without sitting on their phones staring at Instagram for hours.
I've heard several reasons for not having half-days. Some say that the bus schedule is too hard to change. Others say that parents wouldn't want their students home early for two weeks (haha!!). Regardless, I still see the benefit to cutting days for students towards the end of the year.
Do any school districts still do half-days? Is this a decision made by the superintendent or do principals have any input with this schedule?
