Letter to Dr. Berry

Dr. Berry,

There have been six snow days this school year when there should only have been four. What are the consequences? None yet, but it has been rumored that there will be two days added to the school year. While it may seem okay at first, it is not something that the students of this school will stand for. I, too, do not think two extra days at school should be added to the school year, because near the end of the year, students buzz with too much energy anyways, and some people might need those two extra days away from school for vacation purposes.

What good would come of two extra days of school? Perhaps a student could make up for a lost day or school of work, or they might have friends at school that they cannot see otherwise. This is understandable, yet there are still downsides.

Towards the end of the school year, Students are buzzing with so much excitement that they are unable to focus. This excitement may prevent them from concentrating on assignments the teacher may give to them. Why add two extra days when it would just add to their anxiety? The assignments may just be turned in incomplete or not even touched. Excited students also mean chatty students. When a teacher is trying to talk or give a lecture, anxious students in the room will undoubtedly be whispering about their summer plans. This could interrupt the class and frustrate the teacher. Believe me when I say that we are better off without this type of anxiety.

Some people just need to get away for a little bit as well, and will plan months in advance. What if a student was planning on a vacation already when they were informed of these new school days? It is very likely that it could infringe on their plans. This would be especially irritating if they were planning on going out of state or country. If they were having other people coming to visit them, this would be even more annoying. When those people hear that they are coming at a bad time, they may change their plans, which could interfere with other plans. It could just start a domino effect, but I’d rather not go into detail. Don’t add those extra days for the sake of the people with plans.

While some early aspects of adding extra days to the school year may seem appealing, there are some major downsides to doing so. Please, for our community, don’t do this.