As OH students return to school from the latest five-day weekend, with another shortened schedule the following week and another five-day weekend a week after that, students are reminded of the extensive time off scheduled into the fall semester.
“I believe that the loss of days in the fall semester could ineffectively impact the ability for students to learn the skills and content that their classes intend to teach them,” OH senior Riley Balhan said about the seven days lost in the fall. “Personally… this change will negatively impact my individual learning this year.”
During the creation of this year’s school calendar several changes changes were made. While the total number of student attendance days remains the same for the year, all schools in SD#308 were cut short by a week and a half of class time in the fall. Along with this decrease, an extra five-hour-day was added, ultimately reducing class time for students and staff by over seven days during the first semester.
“Oswego High School follows the district’s school calendar, which must meet Illinois state requirements,” Oswego Education Association President Andrew Gothelf said. “Proposed calendars and changes are brought to the Board of Education for approval and submitted to the Regional Office of Education.”
Illinois law identifies school holidays, but allows districts to individually schedule other days off. This ultimately provides some freedom for the SD#308 Board of Education and Calendar Committee to determine days for teacher institutes, professional development, school improvement, parent-teacher conferences, and shortened schedule days between the two semesters.
“This year’s calendar includes three additional five-hour student attendance days: September 21, 2026; February 1, 2027; and March 8, 2027,” Gothelf said.
Besides the added five hour day, this year’s fall semester began six days later, on August 20 compared to the 2025 start date of August 14, and is scheduled to end one day earlier, on December 18 compared to the 2025 end date of December 19. This delay ultimately cuts this year’s fall semester by seven total days of class time.
“I have multiple classes that are semester long, and due to this change I feel as if I will not be able to receive all of the learning material that I would’ve in a previous year,” Balhan said.
“My teachers in these classes have also mentioned this as an issue, and have even stated that they are rushing through the curriculum,” she added, “which prohibits our ability to fully thrive in the classroom.”
The number of total student attendance days within the year remains the same as last year, adding seven extra days into the spring semester to make up for the lost time in the fall. Compressing the first semester into fewer days and redistributing the lost 7 days into the second semester significantly impacts students’ and staff’s time to teach, learn, and master material before winter break.
“We’ve had to adjust lesson planning based on the time allotted for the classes, and we have to figure out a way to just stretch what we’re currently teaching just a little bit,” OH English teacher Kristin Wood said.
While seven days may not sound like a lot, this week and a half can feel like a dramatic loss of time according to students.
“Losing a week may not seem like a big difference, but in reality this could be the time of a large assessment or project that would have to be cut out of first semester or severely rushed,” Balhan said.
However, these “days off” and shortened days have their benefits, and students do see benefits in them. In fact, for some students, the shorter schedules can help academics.
“[The shortened schedule days] helped me complete my homework more, so I can get everything done on time and actually get better grades,” OH senior Brett Strysik said.
Additionally, some see benefits in other capacities. “Shortened schedule days [also] create a bit of a stress relief for me, personally,” Balhan said. “I think a shortened day is a nice break, as long as this shortened day does not result in extra work.”
Given days off for school improvement, staff is working on improved learning experiences, yet teachers report missing students for the class periods.
“Having students in school is always better,” Wood said. “But again, I think the goal of the student leadership team is to strengthen the overall climate, culture, and everything that’s going on in schools, which then goes back to the students.”
Hello! My name is Cecelia Mottet and I am a senior at Oswego High School. This is my first year on the 42Fifty staff, and I am happy in my role as a Staff Reporter. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication.
Hi, my name is Peyton. I'm a junior in highschool and it's my first year on staff. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication.
