Four-Day School Week: What Are The Benefits? 

Four-Day School Week: What Are The Benefits? 

Written By: Abby Phillips 

12/1/23

  Students are used to having school five days a week and then enjoying the two day weekend, but what if that changed? Some schools in the U.S. have instituted the new four-day school week in hopes of improving student attendance, budgeting issues, and the nationwide teacher shortage. These schools either have Monday or Friday off, giving the students and teachers a three day weekend, but extending the days where they are in school. As teachers are given one less day to give instruction, days are extended to make up for time missing from having an extra day off. 

In the United States, around 900 school districts have now adopted the four-day weekly schedule. 226 school districts have just recently incorporated it this year. Although it is more common to see small rural schools favor this scheduling, we are now seeing larger schools switch over to help the teacher shortage. 

Given this is a new concept, there is little evidence to prove whether or not it is impacting students academically. This scheduling is a new strategy to help attract teachers to more rural schools. The public school district in Chico, Texas has now adopted the four-day academic schedule and officials say that positions that used to receive five applications are now receiving more than 20. 

Researchers have interviewed a large sum of students, teachers, and parents and the results have shown that most are all for the new schedule. Students who have spent Mondays or Fridays at home, especially in rural areas, use those days for chores, work, or family time. Ultimately, we have not seen a change in student achievements academically but have concluded that this new schedule is favored by many and teachers are now more interested in this perk.