By Abby Patkin and Astha Agarwal
Students said they are hopeful the school will continue with no homework weekends next year.
“It’s nice when teachers give you a break from homework,” junior Rachel Klevan said. “It removes stress if the teachers decide to follow [the policy].”
Since the initiation of homework-free weekends in October, students said they have noted that teachers’ adherence to the policy has improved significantly as the program nears the end of its pilot run.
Yet despite generally positive student feedback to the policy, teachers said that some apparent kinks need to be resolved before it is ready to be permanently implemented.
Faculty Council Chairman Alan Reinstein said he worries that the chosen weekends may not always be the best choice for all teachers’ schedules.
“We’ve got to do a better job making sure that the weekends established during the year are good general fits for the academic year,” Reinstein said. “Some teachers may feel that their autonomy is taken away by this policy and would rather independently try to fit no-homework weekends on their own schedule.”
Reinstein said, however, that while students may complain about teachers’ violations of the policy, AP classes should be prepared for homework regardless of a homework-free weekend.
“Regarding the AP teacher and student obligations, the conventional thinking is that AP classes need to be focused on the test preparation above the stress-reduction value of the no-homework weekend,” Reinstein said.
“That is to say, students who sign up for AP classes should not expect homework-free weekends if the teacher is not able to afford them.”
In order to continue the no-homework weekend policy, the South Senate passed the No-Homework Weekends Act of 2012 in December. This act urged the continuation of homework-free weekends on behalf of South students.
Senior Senate Vice President Nick Hurney said he believes that certain specifications still need to be made regarding what work teachers can assign preceding and following the weekend. These specific instances include E and F Block homework assigned on Thursday to be submitted on Monday, G Block homework assigned on Friday to be submitted Tuesday, and teachers “doubling up” on homework before the weekend.
“Many teachers are still confused about this policy so we think that we will have to do more with the faculty council in order to work out the kinks in the policy [and] close some of the loopholes????,” Hurney said.
Junior Senate President Jack Lovett said that a Senate survey following the second homework-free weekend reflected a drop in the number of students who felt their teachers had violated the policy, but that number has risen again after the third.
Lovett said he believes the increase in non-compliance with the policy may be a result of the third homework-free weekend including a snow day, its proximity to the AP exam season, and the fact that it was not a holiday weekend like the first two.
Junior Gabe Taylor, Chairman of the Senate’s Stress Alleviation Committee which passed the No Homework Weekends Act, feels that consistency among teachers is an important component of reducing stress levels.
“I think most students get a lot out of the No Homework Weekends,” Taylor said. “[But] if a student gets homework on that weekend, then they feel even more stressed, knowing that they weren’t supposed to be working.”
“There have definitely been some instances where students have felt [stressed] this way. It’s not so much due to teacher’s not cooperating, [as it is to] the lack of an actual policy with rules telling teachers what they can and can’t do.”
Junior Rachel Klevan said that teachers have also assigned double the amount of homework the week before the homework-free weekend.
Despite ambiguity within the policy, many students said they hope to see homework-free weekends stay next year.
“It’s nice to take a break from workloads and stress every now and then,” junior David Gorelik said. “Besides, we do enough work all year to allow one free weekend every term.”
“I feel our school has a negative culture of stress, and that this policy has been a successful step in the right direction for elevating some of that stress,” Lovett said.
The homework-free weekends are intended to facilitate family vacation planning and provide a time for families to enjoy activities together without having to plan around school work.
“I’ve seen email feedback from parents that are very enthusiastic and grateful for the no-homework weekends,” Reinstein said.
As the end of the school year approaches, South faculty members must decide whether the benefits of continuing the policy outweigh its costs.
Reinstein said that since faculty supported the homework-free weekends as a pilot policy for this year, they will have a vote this spring regarding permanent establishment of the policy, after which the principal will make the final decision.
Despite the obstacles that continue to persist in the policy’s implementation, Reinstein said he remains optimistic about faculty support.
“My sense is that the policy has enjoyed enough support from both students and family, and I hope that the faculty will vote to support the continuation of the policy,” Reinstein said.
If the policy continues into the 2013-14 academic year at South, Reinstein said he would also like to see it expanded to all Newton schools.
