The North Allegheny School board recently approved the new calendar for the 2024-2025 school year and it might be a little bit different than what students are used to.
To start, the 2024-2025 school year begins on Thursday, August 22 and ends Friday, June 6. Normally, school at North Allegheny began on a Monday with a few days of introduction and then diving straight into the curriculum. However, some students feel like this might just be the perfect idea.
Current sophomore at North Allegheny Intermediate High School, Alicia Gasana, expressed her thoughts on school beginning on a Thursday by saying, “It’s like an extended vacation. A way to ease back into the reality of school.”
With school starting more than half way through the week, students are able to meet their teachers and the new expectations within those days all while sort of feeling like they never ended their summer vacation since the two days will be a very easy start to the school year. Then, after the weekend, students can feel fresh and ready to start their new curriculum for the new year.
Plus, after only a week of school, there is already a three day weekend due to Labor Day on Monday, September 2.
One of the most exciting changes that are in next year’s calendar is that there is no school on the Friday after Halloween. One of the worst feelings is having to go to school after a super late, fun night going around gathering candy. The last thing students want is to have to wake up early and go back to school.
Another big difference is that there is now no school on the Monday after Thanksgiving. Normally, students have to drag themselves back to school on that Monday after a break filled with family and friends, but next year they can have that time to either travel home or spend more time with friends and family.
Also, this time off allows students to get their mind back on school and get ready for the last few weeks of school before the holiday break in late December.
Speaking of the holiday break, one of the first things that students look at when they receive the new calendar is how many days off they have for winter break. Fortunately, Christmas this year falls on a Wednesday which means students will have a longer break than they might have had if it fell on a Sunday for example.
Even though Christmas does fall on a Wednesday, it does not mean a guaranteed two weeks off like it normally would. School starts again on Thursday, January 2, meaning that the 19 day break, including weekends, has been cut down to 15.
15 days is still a generous break, but it is always nice to have more time off during the holidays to spend with friends and family.
One of the most interesting parts of the calendar for next year is the fact that there is a week-long spring break, and then 2 and half weeks of school before there are another 2 days off for Easter. However, there are no days off after Easter when families are actually going to be together to celebrate.
There are some larger portions of the school year with no days off but that just makes the days there are off that much better. For example, there is a large stretch of no school days off in September through October, and then again in February into March.
One idea that has been thrown around by students to get some extra days off is that instead of school starting on a Thursday, where those two days would most likely be useless anyways, start on a Monday and “bank” three extra days which can be used for vacation days. Then, two of these vacation days could be used to fill the Thursday and Friday after Winter Break, and the last one to have a day off after Easter
Based on these changes, the 2024-2025 school calendar allows for students to be focused and feel energized in the classroom as they look forward to these exciting, new days off.
