There is an ongoing debate amongst the Scituate Public School community: Should we start the school year in August? For years, residents of Scituate, Massachusetts, have preferred starting school after Labor Day–after all, the main attractions of living in this town are the warm summers and delightful beaches!
The Scituate School Committee is considering starting school on Wednesday, August 27th. Students would attend school for two days in August, and then everyone would have a four-day weekend (Friday-Monday) and return to school on Tuesday, September 2nd. Traditionally, Scituate students start school after Labor Day, so while ending our Labor Day fun might seem like a step in the right direction, it would cut the Summer of 2025 short by one week.
Some SHS students, especially seniors, might argue that starting school before Labor Day gives AP students more learning time before AP exams in May. They might say the weeks between AP exams and graduation, typically scheduled during the first week in June, are spent completing “busy work.” However, the time between exams and graduation (usually about two weeks) allows seniors to exercise their creativity by completing projects that integrate what they’ve learned throughout the year. These are fun projects that showcase learning. The fourth quarter is when every senior is crippled with the horrible disease known as “senioritis.” “Busy work” keeps seniors working and feeling productive, which can be healing following months of rigorous studying.
Although we are entering our senior year, and as AP students, we could benefit from starting school earlier, we still prefer to start school on Tuesday, September 2nd. Summer represents a much-needed break, and reducing this break by one week will do more harm than good. As fall athletes, we don’t want to start team tryouts or captains’ practices one week earlier than usual, and the temperatures in August could make learning unbearable.
The argument for beginning school in August is thoughtful; however, we don’t believe the benefits outweigh the advantages of continuing the Scituate tradition of starting school after Labor Day.