Minimum days to minimize student stress

Days deliberately placed in months lacking holidays

Graphic+by+Elika+Parab%2C+staff+writer.

Graphic by Elika Parab, staff writer.

Administration has designated two minimum days — Oct. 12 and Oct. 13 — in an effort to ease student workload during extensive intervals during the school year.

The minimum days existed in the school calendar prior to this year; however, they have been moved to different dates throughout the school year in order to maintain a balanced schedule of 90 days per semester.

“There were four minimum days on our previous school calendar that were used together for [Standardized Testing and Reporting] testing,” Principal Kevin Buchanan wrote to the Talon. “Since the STAR test has been replaced with [the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress exam] and only [the 11th] grade is tested, we no longer need [the minimum days] on the testing days.”

The replacement of STAR testing with the CAASP exam has left four minimum days to be allocated on the school calendar.

October and March were chosen because these are fairly long stretches of the school year without a break, and the minimum days would be a welcome break at those times.

— Kevin Buchanan

To help alleviate student stress, the school calendar committee chose to include two minimum days first semester, as well as two minimum days second semester.

“October and March were chosen because these are fairly long stretches of the school year without a break, and the minimum days would be a welcome break at those times,” Buchanan wrote.

Many students welcomed the change, with junior Sriram Sridhar citing the various benefits that came with the newly allocated minimum days.

“[The minimum days] helped a lot with letting me complete all my classwork,” Sridhar said. “Especially since there aren’t really that many days off from Rosh Hashana a few weeks ago till Veteran’s Day this November.”

According to Buchanan, the school calendar is aimed towards creating a balanced school year, with minimized stress for students.

“We have 180 days in a school year, and we really want to accomplish three main things with our school calendar,” Buchanan wrote. “Maintain balanced semesters of 90 days each, end the first semester before winter break and have a homework-free winter holiday and finish the school year before Memorial Day.”