High school consists of two semesters, but in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District these semesters are unbalanced.
While both the first and second semesters are five months long, the first semester features back-to-back Thanksgiving and winter breaks, making the semester much more manageable. But the second semester only has spring break.
The placements of these breaks are unavoidable because they line up with district holiday breaks.
This year, first semester started Aug. 14 and ended Dec. 20. In addition to the weeklong Thanksgiving break and two-plus-week winter recess, the semester also included five individual days off. The second semester runs from Jan. 7 to June 5, and includes five days off for spring break and another six singular days off.
Though the second semester has more singular days off, the first semester has 83 total school days, compared to 97 for the second semester.
That’s almost an additional three weeks of school.
Until 2016, the school year was organized so first semester finals were the second week back from winter break in mid-January. This made the semesters more even,
But it was decided this schedule hurt student learning because of the long break. The first week back was mostly used for review before finals.
In the first semester, students and staff are coming in fresh after a 10-week summer vacation, but second semester follows the two-week winter break.
Because students are entering the first semester more refreshed, breaks from school are more needed in the second semester when students and staff are tired from being in school for a longer period of time.
The beginning of the first semester also tends to be easier compared to the rest of the school year, with teachers introducing classes and often reviewing previous concepts.
The second semester of school lacks these easier days, and the entire semester mostly focuses on learning and testing new material. It also is jam packed with AP testing for many students.
Days off in the second semester would give students more time to study for their exams, and provide a well-needed break. Plus, more breaks included in the second semester would help rejuvenate everyone.
A solution to this would be starting school a week earlier and ending a week earlier.
This would add a week to first semester and remove one from second, helping make the semesters more balanced.