Would you choose a four-day school week?

Some schools across the nation are trying something different: They are moving to a four-day school week. This means students go to school Monday through Thursday. Sounds great, right? But it also means their days are extended to make up for the extra day off.

What do you think of this? Does it sound great or do you think it’s crazy? We surveyed 100 fourth- and fifth-graders, and asked them what they think the perfect school week would be like.

Fifty-one kids chose five days a week because if they stayed longer it would interfere with their after-school sports and clubs. Parents also might not get out of work to get them to their activities. Kids would not have enough time to do their homework if they stayed until 4:30 and would not have enough time to eat dinner. Also, spending time with family and friends was important.

Thirty-three kids chose four days a week with extra time in the morning because they are already up early to go to school. They can get to their sports or activities without having to leave school early or rush to get ready when they get home. Also, kids can then have time to get their homework done with no worries of feeling rushed.

And 16 kids chose four days with extra time in the afternoon. They think it should be four days a week with extra time in the afternoon because they can have longer lunches and recesses. Then you can have three-day weekends and have more fun. If they had to be up early then they’d be really, really tired.

So what do you think?

Kerry Abernethy’s fourth-grade class, Waverly Avenue Elementary School, Holtsville