Is the last day of school too late?

Every year, students count down the days until the last day of school, when the two-month long hiatus starts, allowing all of us to finally openly enjoy summer vacation. However, students in the district are left sitting in classes staring out the window at weather that feels too nice not to enjoy, all while schools across the nation go on summer break. This year, Bellevue School District’s last day of school is an astonishingly late June 24th due to earlier emergency closures. This late end leads to the question: is the last day of school too late?

To begin, most districts release much earlier than we do. I personally can’t stand taking classes into late June, and many students feel the same, especially knowing that we are some of the last K-12 students to still be in school across the country. Because a majority of schools release earlier than we do, it becomes an inconvenience for many of our summer plans. This year after Speech and Debate Nationals, which is usually an early release from the school year, I have to go back to school to finish up the year. It’s not motivating to know that I still have to think about school while competing. Many summer programs, opportunities, and competitions also interfere with school in the month of June because of our late release.

Then there’s the big problem with ending late: starting late. Our district’s first day of school is later than other districts because of our late release. For students taking AP classes, the late start means that the September might be the time to just start learning content for AP exams, while other students in other parts of the nation enjoy the privilege of getting an almost month-long head start on content. For teachers of AP classes this means cramming lessons, less review time and even cutting content because the exam date is the same for all schools across the nation.

“The less time to study affected AP Biology. It was the first test so I grinded biology practice each day, and I was pretty stressed. We only had one week to study honestly”, said sophomore Mingze Shi.

When our when our late end date directly affect the performance and academic achievement of our district, like it did with Shi, a much earlier release date could even improve our district’s performance. Besides, I really want to go out and enjoy the sun now—before it goes away.