“No new homework weekends” were created as a way for students to spend time with family or friends, catch up on schoolwork, or work ahead in their classes.

However, these weekends only occur once per marking period, a total of four times a year. Considering last school year’s difficult and unprecedented circumstances due to the pandemic, no new homework weekends should occur more often; for example, once per month instead of once per marking period.

During these times, the pandemic is complicating people’s lives in one way or another. Because of this, it is more important than ever for students to take breaks from school and focus on their health, family, friends, or job. Students should not have to spend all their weekend time completing hours of homework.

Since the first no new homework weekend, the idea has become slightly counterintuitive. On one hand, they do not allow short-term homework assigned on Fridays and due over the weekend or the following Monday, while on the other, students are heavily encouraged to work on long-term schoolwork.

Sometimes the week after a no new homework weekend can become stressful as teachers assign work that would have been designed to be completed over the weekend under different circumstances. Long-term assignments, like essays or projects, or work assigned before the no new homework weekend are not canceled. Teachers also have the chance to assign weekend homework on the Thursday before a no new homework weekend, therefore avoiding the spirit of the no new homework weekend rules.

Despite this, if students want to avoid some of the stress of the week following a no new homework weekend, they can use the opportunity of a no new homework weekend to work ahead on schoolwork due later in the week. Especially for students in higher-level classes with a typically larger workload, such as AP or IB, more frequent no new homework weekends would give students more of a chance to get organized or to catch up on missed work.

Students’ lives do not strictly revolve around school and homework. Many students have jobs outside of school, are involved in multiple extracurricular activities or volunteer work, or want to spend more time with family and friends. No new homework weekends provide students with the opportunity to focus on these things rather than just school. Instituting these weekends more frequently would greatly help the students at Township and create a better, nurturing educational environment.