Spring break is something children and teenagers around the United States cherish, including the students at Cherry Hill High School East. This one week away from East gives both teenagers and teachers time to relax, take a break from work and have the opportunity to go away with their family. However, this year at East, the traditional one week break has been taken away from students and teachers and has been split into two separate long weekends.
The Cherry Hill Public School District made this decision because they wanted a way to be inclusive to students who celebrate Easter or Passover. Usually, Easter and Passover fall only around a week apart, making it simple to have a break that recognizes both holidays. This year, they fall around three weeks apart, making it challenging for our district to figure out a solution that doesn’t favor one holiday over another. Their solution is to have a four day weekend for Easter where students are off Friday, March 29 and Monday, April 1 and a five day weekend for Passover where students are off from Monday, April 22 to Wednesday, April 24.
Although the district’s intentions are good since they’re being inclusive to different religions, other issues become present with these two long weekends that both students and parents have expressed.
“I am grateful that our school district gives students off for a variety of religious and cultural holidays…but, I think that students need a full week off for spring break.” said Beth Becker, a parent at East.
Becker believes that students and teachers need a full week off for their mental health, and so that they can have a real break.
“I think it was an awkward position the district was in this year, and they should have used some more creative thinking to come up with a better solution. I think it was well intended because they wanted to cover everybody, but they didn’t think it through and they didn’t use creative thinking.” Becker said.
The district focused on inclusion, but seemed to leave out thought about how it would affect students and teachers. Students don’t get to have a real break from school and instead have two long weekends that are far apart. The long weekends make it challenging for teachers, as well, because they have to figure out a way to create lesson plans for students that fall within the strange weeks. Absences are also bound to increase during these times, for families who are going on vacation. This makes it harder for students because they’re missing school, and harder for teachers because they will have a lot of students missing during these days where they need to teach.
Students feel frustrated that they’ve lost the opportunity to fully recharge during spring break because of the schedule this year.
Ori Vatury, a student at East, proposed a practical solution that would include the different religions, while still giving students and teachers the needed break.
“I think if they were to give one day for each holiday, and then have another separate week of spring break sometime in March or April that would be nice” said Vatury (‘26).
This would entail that everyone still gets the feeling of a real spring break where they can relax and have the choice to travel, while also still making everyone feel heard and included. I believe the district had the right intention’s, but it wasn’t executed very well. A week off is essential in giving students and teachers time to have a mental health break from all of their hard work.
