Within the past couple of years, Colorado schools―district 27J, as well as many others, have implemented four day school weeks rather than five. While some have found the change to bring some inconveniences, many people have found the switch beneficial. Furthermore, students who currently have five day school weeks say they would prefer having four day school weeks.

Both students and teachers find that the four day school week gives them time for extracurriculars and out-of-school activities rather than strictly schoolwork for the majority of their week, and are able to balance these more evenly.

”If more students are happy that they’re getting the break, and they get that three day weekend for sports and relaxing or doings whatever they want. It makes it easier to stay on top of school and actually pay attention,” junior Roman Rogotzke said.

While some are concerned that the four day school week model will make it difficult for students to retain information and fall behind the curriculum, there has been proof in students’ test scores that reveal they perform  just as well academically as the students that go to school five days a week; none of their test scores have dropped because of this change.

Cutting a day out of their school week does not actually change the amount of time students spend there, either. Rather than following the traditional school schedule of 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. They go from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m, so that they still meet the required amount of hours needed each school year.

“I think students should have freedom to work and have study groups to work independently to reflect on things―just being in a desk does doesn’t guarantee they’re learning,” history teacher Michael Kaul said.

On the Fridays that students do not have school, they can be utilized as a help day for students to reach out to their teachers independently for help. When students are surrounded by their peers during class, it can be intimidating for a student to ask for help because they do not want others to assume they are dumb.

Another big factor that prevents them from asking questions is because they are afraid of interrupting lessons and slowing things down. However, with a day set aside for students to come in separately, it can seem less intimidating and they could actually come into school for one-on-one time with the teacher.

“I feel like when teachers asks, ‘do you have any questions,’ kids don’t ask questions because they feel stupid. For me, if it’s a class I actually don’t understand or if I actually have a genuine question, I would go up to the teacher instead of asking a question for the whole class and like the skin kids thinking,” sophmore Dhima Mohamed said.

Public schools already spend a lot of money on busing and food every day, but having a four day week would allow the school to save money and spend it on more important things that the school needs. The four day week could also prevent teacher’s meetings from interrupting regular school days, and teachers would not need substitutes as often.

“We have a district that runs about 40 miles from top to bottom, meaning busing students is an issue. Part of the reason we have a six period school day is so we can double run the buses here and try to be more efficient. So, going to a four day school week would definitely reduce transportation costs for our district,” Kaul said.

All in all, a four day school week has been proven beneficial and more schools should consider it. The majority of students go to school five out of seven days a week for 12 years in their lifetime before even entering college; it can get repetitive and overwhelming. Cutting school weeks down to four days gives students independence and allows teachers to help their struggling students to get a chance to come in for one-on-one time.