As winter break draws to a close, students are having to prepare for coming back to school — a mere two days after New Year’s Day. While the current dates for winter break are perfect for families that travel only for Christmas, coming back to school so soon after the new year is not ideal. In the future, Center Grove should extend our winter break to the following week, meaning students would begin the new semester on Jan. 9.

Coming off of finals, many students tend to use their winter break as a time to wind down and relax after their stressful week of school. That being said, the students may not be able to fully relax, especially with the New Year’s Day activities that concluded just two days before their return. With an extended break, students would be able to use their extra time to ensure they come back to school ready to start their final semester with a clear mind. 

According to “Should Winter Break Be Longer Every Year,” an article written about extending schools’ winter break, “When a student feels good, it will show in how they learn and produce meaningful work inside their classes.” With a fresh mind, students would be able to produce well thought-out work, instead of continuing to be burnt out from the semester before, submitting work that they are not proud of because they feel pressure to meet their upcoming deadlines.

Some people may argue that having three weeks of winter break would be too difficult for parents that would have to take off of work to watch their children, but if the parents had older children or were able to find someone they trusted to watch their kids, they would be able to continue working while allowing their kids to have more time to rest before the new semester.

A survey conducted by PrincetonReview said, “Over 50% of students reported feeling stressed, 25% reported that homework was their biggest source of stress and on average teens are spending one-third of their study time feeling stressed, anxious, or stuck.” An extra week of winter break would allow students to have an adequate amount of time to reset so they could continue to produce work that they are proud of without continuing to feel the stress of their previous semester. 

Some schools in the area have breaks that I think would be more beneficial to students. For example, the Noblesville district gets out of school for winter break on Dec. 22, but their students return to school on Jan. 9 with an online learning day. This not only allows for students to begin their new semester further from a holiday, but also lets them get back into the feeling of doing school work without them immediately being in the school environment. The Perry Township school district lets their students out on Dec. 21. Their students return on Jan. 5. This gives students a bit more time to reset before they jump back into the school year.

This winter break has not been long enough. The school should extend the winter break for future years because of the benefits of allowing students to reset their minds and give them enough time to come back and produce their best work, starting their second semester in a positive way.