Students at Oswego East High school say a four-day school week would give them time to rest, catch up on schoolwork and spend time with friends, though some worry teachers would respond by assigning more work.

Although District 308 has not proposed changing its schedule, students were asked how they could benefit from an extra day off if the school moved to a four-day week.

The district’s current schedule runs five days a week, Monday through Friday, through the 2026-27 school year.

Four-day school weeks have grown more common, with more than 2,100 public schools in 26 states as of 2024-25 use them, according to NWEA research. The schedules save districts about 2% of their budgets on average, the research found.

Sophomore Baize Bomstead said he would welcome the change.

“I would like a four-day week, and I could use the extra day to get extra rest, study, and catch up on my classes,” Bomstead said.

Junior Jonathan Baquero agreed, saying the extra day would help him stay on top of assignments.

“I think a four-day week would be very beneficial to catch up on my work and get an extra day to rest,” Baquero said.

Not every student would plan to spend the day on academics. Junior Ayden Kuhns said he would use the time to exercise and see friends.

“I would use the extra day to go to the gym and hang out with my friends,” Kuhns said.

Under most four-day weeks, the extra day falls on Monday or Friday, a choice students at East are split on. Which day would be dropped matters to students. 

Kuhns said he would prefer a long weekend at the start of the week.

“I would want Monday off because I’d rather go to school on Friday than Monday,” Kuhns said.

Baquero said the only downside he could think of is the workload.

“The only negative thing I can think of is making teachers assign more work,” Baquero said.

Teachers see a different benefit. Mark Green, a Marketing teacher at Oswego East, said the extra day could help with grading and attendance.

“I think many teachers could benefit from having more time to get grades in and I think it could increase teacher attendance as well,” Green said.

Whether the extra day off means more rest or more homework, students at East say they are ready to find out.

Written by Junior, Brayden Simon. Edited by staff writers for the Oswego East’s online news magazine The Howl.