Why Can’t School Start Before Labor Day?

As the weather is getting warmer and summer has arrived, SHS students are becoming impatient while waiting for the last day of school—Monday, June 27th.

This past school year, SHS students returned from summer break on September 8, 2021, which was two days after Labor Day. While students were happy to experience what felt like an extended summer, most of them are now wishing school would have started a few days earlier.

It is always hard to stay focused toward the end of school, but this year it seems even harder. Junior Freja Haley has had a difficult time staying on top of all of her work and finding motivation during these past few weeks. With the weather warming up, she said, “All I can think about is going outside,” especially when being stuck in the classroom. Many other students were distracted and weren’t able to put in all of their effort into their schoolwork. Haley attributes her lack of focus to how late in June the school year ran, as there is so much else to think about besides school. 

Likewise, junior Esther Bradley agreed that “it is hard to keep coming to school.” But, it is not just because of the distractions—according to Bradley, it is “so humid all the time” at SHS. Junior Danny Lumnah even says “the heat is unbearable.” Clearly, being at school this late in the year isn’t the most practical situation, as it comes along with various issues.

According to Bradley, “It would be better to get out in the middle of June like last year.” By doing so, the weather wouldn’t distract students from learning. This year, there was definitely more complaining regarding how late school is getting out compared to last year. This could all be fixed if SHS went back to class before Labor Day. Surrounding towns such as Marshfield, Hanover, and Weymouth all return to school before Labor Day, so why doesn’t Scituate, too?