BY OLIVIA EBERSOLE (’16)

Starting this school year, every first Wednesday will be a regular school day.  There will be no more early releases nor will late arrival take the place of it.

In the past, early release days were used for teachers to stay after and learn new information.

“After standing and teaching all day teachers would sit there for two hours and learn new information,” said Principal Mr. Matt Durst.  He himself was very sympathetic towards this time teachers had to put in.

So why eliminate them?

According to Durst the idea came about that each of the two hours, sixteen total, would be taken and used for something more.  The teachers still used those hours for new learning, and were able to come back two full days earlier instead of learning after having to go through long days of teaching.

The benefit for the students, according to Mr. Durst, is that there are those two extra days off at the end of the year.  There are also more four day weekends.

Durst said he had not heard any complaints about the change.

“People are pretty jazzed about those four day weekends,” he said.

Early release has been a constant for many students since middle school and the sudden elimination of it has surprised many students.

“I was upset at first, because I didn’t realize we had an increased amount of days off,” senior Ally Guiher said.

But as students have learned what exactly this change means for them they become much more willing to accept it.  According to senior Madeline Rogers these increased number of four day weekends is quite a good thing for people like her, who need a break at the end of quarters.

The reason for making the first Wednesday a regular school day instead of a late arrival is that the teachers could not lose all those instruction hours, which would also lead to not so many long weekends off, according to Durst.