In 2012 BCSC decided to go to a balanced calendar, which shortened summer break by two weeks. I personally do not like the calendar because it now requires me to go to school on my birthday (it’s in early August). Students need a longer break between school years because of all the hard work they put in during the year. The balanced calendar gives breaks of one week at fall break and Thanksgiving, and two weeks in the winter and spring. These long breaks makes it harder for students to retain information that they learned in the previous grading period. The Thanksgiving break is especially hard to come back from because all that students think about is Christmas break instead of grades. Those extra two weeks in August before school give us more time to relax. Students are in all new classes at the start of a school year so the long break is not as bad as a long break right in the middle of the semester or grading period.

Switching to a balanced calendar was a smart move by BCSC. The balanced schedule shortens summer break by two weeks and adds an extra week to Thanksgiving break, winter break and spring break. These extra weeks allow time for longer vacations and family visitations. For example, if you were not able to visit a place over spring break because you had to get back in time for school, you can now take your time and extend your vacation. Shortening summer break seems to go unnoticed among students. Since we have two months of vacation in the summer, an extra two weeks taken off does not make a large impact. Overall, a balanced calendar is better for students because it allows for longer vacations and does not affect summer break in a large way.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of The Oracle, Columbus East High School, and Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation.