Carrying the weight of one less school day
Monday.
Tuesday.
Wednesday.
Thursday.
Weekend.
The idea of only having to attend school four days a week is lit, or whatever the cool kids are saying these days. It’s something that only students and teachers who reach the peak of their stress might start to daydream about. For Noble Independent School District 40, this isn’t just an idea or a daydream. It’s reality.
As Oklahoma continues to cut its budget for education, school districts such as Noble are having to pay the cost by reducing the school week to four days. Noble is one of several Oklahoma public school districts that has opted for a four-day school week, including Little Axe, which is just northeast of Noble. Noble Executive Director of Instruction & School Improvement Jon Myers estimated that by cutting the school week short by one day, the Noble school district would save $300,000 this year, according to a News9 article. Monday through Thursday are the only instructional days for all Noble public schools. Students, families and teachers alike are still adapting to the drastic change.
Mia Mamone, Noble High School senior, said she and her fellow students have tried to make Thursdays feel like Fridays, but it’s not quite the same.
“On Thursdays we still have to focus on school,” she said. “It’s never to that extent of relaxation, since we have to like utilize that time.”
The four-day school week has not made for an easy transition in the classroom. Teachers and students such as Mamone are noticing major changes.
Mamone said her math teacher planned on giving this year’s AP Calculus class a work day during the week. When the new school year started, her teacher said it was no longer a possibility with the shortened week.
“We thought ‘Darn, we love those days,’” Mamone said. “We’re definitely trying to cram in as much as possible even though we know (our teacher) doesn’t want to do that.”
Meaghan Rissmann, Noble High School senior, said her advanced classes are going well, but the on-level classes are having a harder time adjusting.
“I feel like they didn’t put a lot of planning into it. Just the way they are teaching is rushed and not as well thought out,” Rissmann said. “They say almost every day that we don’t have as much time. I feel like we are missing things. I feel like there are little holes almost everywhere, and it makes a difference.”
Lacey Turner, Mamone’s AP Literature teacher at Noble High School, said her students keep requesting a work day.
“A four-day school week means a lot more homework. It ends of being more like college,” Turner said. “Some of my kiddos are not ready for that. They keep asking, ‘Wait, where’s my worksheet?’”
Noble High School has not officially barred teachers and students from using the building on Fridays, but most of the time the heat is turned down to 50 or 55 degrees, according to Turner.
“There’s a handful of us that are up here on the weekends,” she said. “That’s what we do — go to school and grade papers. They don’t know that I’m here anyway. I have keys to the building.”
Turner added that the superintendent goes comes by each classroom on Thursday afternoons to set the thermostat down low in order to save money on electricity.
Football games are still on Fridays, but Mamone said it’s kind of awkward. She said usually the cheerleaders, pom girls and football players would wear their uniforms on Thursday to give it the semblance of it being like a Friday.
“Then we go home, and there wasn’t a game, and so it was just kind of weird,” Mamone said. “It feels just strange not having school and the pep and everything before it. It’s just different.”
Mamone has always been involved in outside activities, including student council. When Noble High School’s student council heard about the four-day school week, worry set in. Mamone said in past years it always seemed as though student council was either putting on an event or planning for one, but with the shortened week, she knew it would become more difficult.
“We needed that time for … the work we needed to get done: decorations, ordering, planning,” Mamone said. “We lost a fifth of that time.”
Even though classes aren’t in session on Fridays, Stuco tries to meet at school for any unfinished work from the week. The organization is allowed to be on campus because the student council advisor unlocks the doors.
Rissmann said the four-day school week has also taken a toll on athletics.
Right now is off-season for the track and cross country teams at Noble High School, Rissmann said. She said they are getting the teams ready, but practices are different from last year. Now, the team is asked to practice on their own time during the three-day weekend.
She said the on-your-own workouts are harder for Rissmann because she and the rest of the team don’t run as well on their own.
“It’s hard because we get freshmen and they don’t have good form, but we don’t have the time to coach them. We are basically fighting a losing battle,” Rissmann said.
Mamone also worries about how she looks on her college applications. Mamone said she was definitely against the four-day school week when it was being discussed at the district level. But she said a lot of students thought it would be fun, and even some of the teachers thought it would be beneficial.
“I’ve definitely felt kinda bad for my teachers asking them for recommendations because I think a few of them have definitely have worked on them at home, and I know some of the other ones that that’s kind of the stuff they leave for their school time, and I feel bad asking them to do that,” Mamone said.
“I get that, and it has been nice in some respects to have those few extra hours to work on other things, but at the same time I see all my friends at Norman who are in school,” Mamone said. “I just feel like, especially in all these competitive scholarship and college things, I am competing against people who are going to school more, and they have more time to do things and learn more deeply.”
In addition to feeling like she’s falling behind others, Mamone said she also feels like the entire Noble Public School district is falling behind.
“It’s just really unfortunate,” she said.
Rachel Mamone, Mia Mamone’s sister and OU freshman, can’t imagine not having a full five-day school week.
“I feel like everything would be so rushed,” she said. “ I mean I felt like things were rushed just in a regular eight-hour school day, you know, trying to cram everything for like for state guidelines.”
Rachel said when she was in high school not even a year ago, she remembered everyone loved coming to school on Fridays.
“You know, that was the end of the week, and you’re like (talking to friends, saying) ‘Let’s meet up at the football game,’ and I guess they don’t have that now, and I cannot imagine what it’s like,” Rachel said.
Rachel and Mia also have a younger sister in eighth grade, Jenna. Rachel said she think that one less school day will negatively affect her younger sister.
“All those days add up with the kids who are getting a full five days a week, and that’s just that much more she’s not going to know or have practiced,” Rachel said.
“When she applies for college, in-state and out-of-state, she’s going to be competing with people who have all these extra programs and a full school week. I think will be a hindrance,” Rachel said.
Turner said the four-day school week gives her more time with her husband, who has every other Friday off work, and their 5-year-old and 9-year-old children.
“Family is really important to me,” Turner said. “Teaching is a balance between being home with (my family) and being able to teach. When (my kids) are out of school, I want to be with them. The four-day school week is the best of both worlds.”
Turner said that there was one negative side effect of the shortened week: the elementary schools added on 30 to 40 minutes a day, and that’s a long day for a kindergartener. She said she doesn’t think her children are suffering academically, though.
Tracy Mamone, the mother of Mia and Rachel, said their family has been lucky because they have older children. Tracy is a stay-at-home mom, so she doesn’t have to find childcare on Fridays.
But she said Jenna is having a harder time adjusting to the shortened week.
“I feel like she’s drifting on Fridays because she doesn’t have anything special going on,” Tracy said.
Noble High School Principal Steve Barrett was contacted by email and by phone to comment on how the four-day school week was affecting the high school, and no response was received.
