Over winter break, my family and I were on vacation, and I kept trying to enjoy time with them. However, as the end of the break neared, my mind kept wandering back to schoolwork and assignments approaching. Even though my teachers hadn’t assigned homework over break, I couldn’t free myself from the stress of leaving the semester unfinished because of the number of major assessments assigned in the first three weeks back from break. Having to retain information over break overwhelmed me with the pressure to review, despite being told it was not needed.
In the 2024-25 school year, GDS extended the first semester from ending before winter break to Jan. 24 to balance the lengths of the two semesters. For the first time, winter break falls during the first semester instead of splitting the two. The two-day weekend between semesters on Jan. 25 and 26 does not offer students enough time to have a mental reset. Having a new semester start after winter break last year allowed me to feel more prepared for the upcoming semester because I would be starting new units in all of my classes. Splitting the first semester with winter break also disrupted the curriculum, breaking up units and making it harder to retain pre-break material without additional studying.
In both my math and chemistry classes, the timing of tests made it challenging to retain information. In math, the polynomials unit was split up into two quizzes before break and then a test on the same topic after. Having our test after the break meant that the information was not fresh in my mind when we came back, forcing me to spend more time reviewing the material. A similar situation happened in my chemistry class, where I needed to spend extra time studying the information we learned before break.
In December, January, March and May, GDS has sets of two major assignment weeks, where certain departments can assign major assessments during the same week. The new academic calendar now includes two sets of these major assessment weeks near the end of first semester—one before winter break and one after. Although the first week back from break is assessment-free, students are still left with little time to prepare for upcoming major assignments.
“You think you’re just going to ease back into school, but you just get hit with a bunch of majors immediately,” senior Daniel Reilly said. The lack of a true break and the looming pressure of assessments prevented me from fully stepping away from academic pressures during winter break, ultimately disrupting the mental reset that the break should provide.
“I knew about a math test I had the second week we came back, so I was stressed about studying for that,” sophomore Phineas Getlan explained. “Even though I wasn’t doing any schoolwork, I was worried about all the stuff I’d have to study for when we got back.”
Reilly said he wasn’t given information about his assignments that were due after break, but he knew that he would need to prepare for them soon after school began, so he felt the need to think about schoolwork when he wanted to relax during the break. As a result, the shift in semester length undermined the vital purpose of winter break as a time for him to reset and recharge for upcoming schoolwork.
While GDS has tried to support students’ mental health by continuing the tradition of not allowing teachers to assign homework due in the first two days back from winter break and assessments in the first week, the school fails to fully address these issues. GDS could better address the stress caused by major assessment weeks immediately after winter break by eliminating them altogether, giving students a true opportunity to rest during the break.
The change does have positive effects in terms of balancing the semesters, though. For example, it allows health teacher Caitlin Hutcheon to meet with both her 9th- and 10th-grade students twenty times. Previously, 9th-grade students only had fifteen health classes in one year, while 10th-graders had twenty-four. Additionally, the two semesters are now equally weighted in students’ final grades and the same length, making the final grade more evenly balanced than in previous years, when semester grades were equally weighted, but different lengths.
The semester change’s negative impact on winter break and mental recovery far outweighs the benefits, though. With the new semester system, GDS should remove the set of major assignment weeks that occur shortly after winter break. This leaves the positive aspects of even semesters unchanged, and students would not have to worry about remembering information they learned before break to prepare for tests taken after.