As the beginning of the 2023-24 school year is taking off, many students across grades 9-12 have been losing motivation to come to school, never mind completing any work. With that, many teachers and school administrators nationwide have been searching for ways to make school a more productive environment and recruit more teaching jobs. Over 2,100 schools in the United States have implemented a four-day school week to accomplish these goals. 

Attendance has become a widespread issue at high schools nationwide, and Ipswich High School is no exception. For various reasons, many students have become chronically absent only a few months into the academic year. A two-sport athlete and captain (who will remain anonymous) says his only motivation to attend school stems from his participation in sports. When asked if he would be more likely to attend school if we had a four-day week, he answered: “No. I don’t come to school for many reasons, and having a shorter week would not change that.” Some of the reasons behind his lack of attendance are due to the early start time, his disinterest in the curriculum, and other priorities that triumph over attending school. By shortening the school week by one day, he reports that it would benefit him because he “wouldn’t have to come to school on a Monday.” He also stated that his attention span could improve by having another day to recharge. Besides that, he believes his view on the school system would not change. 

When other students were asked if they would perform better with a four-day school week, most immediately answered: “yes.” Nevertheless, they became slightly more hesitant about the idea when we reminded them that our school days would be longer, with one or more classes tacked on to our daily schedule. 

With over three-quarters of the United States in a shortage of teachers, the education system is tirelessly seeking ways to solve the ongoing issue. One of which is switching to a four-day school week schedule, which has been implemented in over 26 states across the U.S.. Ipswich High School’s beloved history department head, Mrs. Smith, has been teaching here since 2001, making this her 22nd year as an educator. When asked her opinions on the four-day school week regarding teachers, she responded: “I would love it! It may add one class a day to my schedule, but regardless it wouldn’t be an issue and would have a positive effect on many teachers’ lives.” She believes this would allow many teachers to have more flexible and manageable schedules. This could be a possible solution with the busy and time-consuming hours driving many educators away. Although it could be a benefit to teachers, Smith believes that it may not show an improvement in student attendance. She claimed that she “would hope it would positively affect attendance records’; however, that is unrealistic. It likely will not help with chronic absence, but could with excused absences.” Scheduled absences like doctors and dentist appointments may be limited due to the ability to schedule them on the day off of school. Despite this, persistent absences shown by students are not likely to improve by a significant amount due to a four-day week. 

There is no concrete evidence that implementing a four-day school week schedule improves student performance or attendance. Despite this, schools are noticing a spike in teacher applications. According to Dale Herl, a Missouri school district superintendent, “The number of teacher applications that we’ve received have increased more than 4-fold” (The Journalist’s Resource). There are reports of less bullying and fighting in school: “Fighting declined by 0.79 incidents per 100 students and bullying dropped by 0.65 incidents per 100 students.” These are positive things, but some cons are evident as this new schedule continues. Schools are noticing a lack of attention in class and a loss of in-person instructional time due to the loss of a full day. Because there is little to no evidence that a four-day school week improves academic performance, we cannot determine whether or not it would benefit Ipswich High School.