For students, the break brings more than just time off, but offers a chance for students to be relieved from the stress deadlines and homework, giving them a chance to recharge, pursue personal interests, and focus on other parts of their lives. At South, the administration has implemented a no-homework-over-break policy. Not only does this policy ensure the stress relief of students, but also the staff at South.
English and psychology teacher Katherine Parent discusses, “Everyone needs “down time” for the benefit of their mental health, and this mandates that down time.” Even teachers enjoy having time off and some of the benefits she gets from having time off.
“I think it’s a great policy,” Parent said. “Everyone deserves a break, from students to teachers to administrators and the policy ensures that students truly are getting a break from school rather than spending their vacation time working.”
The point of a break is to be away from school and prioritize mental health rather than stressing over work. With this, in the break students can make sure they have some down time for themselves, catch up with family and friends and overall recuperate. Katelyn Degrand ’25 discussed the different variables that contribute to having no homework over break.
“It’s very helpful for the peace of mind for me and for other students,” Degrand said. “People who take very hard classes, or have a big workload constantly stress throughout the week and being able to have a break and take a step back is very helpful for those students including myself.”
Some teachers agree that students should prioritize their mental health and even though there was a long period of time that students did not do any work for their class, there’s never been significant changes in learning or student performance.
“I would say students should prioritize their mental and physical health so that they are in good shape when they return,” Parent said. “If they catch up on sleep and eat properly over break, they will come back to school feeling refreshed and ready to tackle what’s next.”
Although it’s understandable that this policy ensures the mental health and well-being of students by taking away a big workload, assistant principal Cindy Parravano reasons this policy was put in place.
“This initiation was put into place several years ago and is district wide,” Parravano said. “When this was first talked about, the decision was made because in the past, there were teachers who were assigning work that would be due during the break, or assigned the day before the break with a due date on the day of return.”
Furthermore, this policy was instituted to ease the workload for staff and students so that when people return from a break, they are well-rested.
“Students can focus on spending time with their family,” Parravano said. “During the break, no one should have to decide between spending time with their family, or working on an assignment.”
