When you look at your school week and notice a day off in the typical five-day week, you get excited. Why not make it permanent to have a three-day weekend? Students would have more time to recharge and spend with their family and friends.

Most kids are drained after school, and yet many still have more things they have to do, such as helping their parents, working, or helping other family members or friends. Many high schoolers also come to school sleep-deprived. The Central for Disease Control’s (CDC) Risk Behavior Survey in 2019 showed that 77% of high school students get fewer than 8 hours of sleep and 43% get 6 or fewer hours of sleep.

While many high school students could be better at time management, having an extra day off would help those students recharge, perform better in class, and help further their academic resume. It also gives students more time to experience things with family, spend time with friends, and make memories. An extended weekend could also give students time to work a job and save money for their future. 

Schools that have converted to the Four-day week have seen a spike in teacher applications. “The number of teacher applications that we’ve received has gone up more than 4-fold,” Dale Hearl, Superintendent of Independence Missouri School District states in The Journalist’s Resource: “The four-day school week: Research shows benefits and consequences.”  

Some pros of four-day school weeks are saving on transportation, food, and energy. Student attendance also improves because it gives students time to recharge and rest. Four-day school weeks also improve teachers’ morale and help schools attract teachers when those schools are having difficulties finding them.

There are some cons of a four-day school week as well. If a school were to do four-day weeks, they would have to also increase the length of the school day or the length of the school year. Schools are required to meet deadlines and teach their students everything they're supposed to teach. Another con of a 3-day weekend is students who are food insecure may not have sufficient access to meals during the extra day off. 

Some schools, like one in Colorado, show statistically better math scores since changing to four-day school weeks. Another study done by Rural Educator in the winter of 2011 showed no significant differences in student performance. 

 On Louisiana's Grant Parish School Board website informational page on Four-day school weeks, they provide information saying they don't extend their school years, they just extend the days. They start school in the second week of August and still end in the week before Memorial Day. Their school days start at 7:45 am and go till 4:00 pm and they are generally out on Mondays. However, they decrease winter and spring break days but holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving stay the same. Athletics aren't affected either and remain the same.

From a school's point of view, there isn’t the best evidence for student academic improvements. However, it does give students and faculty the ability to recharge and get more done;  increasing positivity within the school. It would also give faculty more time to plan and grade assignments and give students more time for homework. The only way to know if it would benefit the students and faculty is to try it. Although everyone is different, I believe it would benefit most schools around the country.