For the 2017-2018 school year, Loudoun County Public Schools gave students 17 days for their break, starting on December 16, and having students go back to school January 2. However, this year students have only 12 days off this year to enjoy the holidays, starting on the 21st of December, and ending with students returning to class on January 2nd. Winter break is a time for rest, relaxation and for celebrating the holidays, but do students really have enough time to sit back, relax, and recover from school stress?

Navraj Gill, a sophomore, says “I’m fine with the length of our winter break, considering all the snow days we usually get around this time.” However, Gill thinks that “instead of getting back to school on Wednesday, January 2, we should have the rest of that week off.” Loudoun County Public Schools has already had one cancellation and one two-hour delay due to snow, both in November. In previous years, Loudoun County Public Schools has also closed for reasons other than snow, such as ice and strong winds.

Not all students are content with this year’s changes though. Sophomore Heith Harroo says that he “liked the length of last year’s break a lot better,” and that “we should go back to our older schedule.” Harroo also says that he’s normally given homework across several classes during winter break. “It’s hard to wind down when I have all these assignments that I need to complete over the holidays,” Harroo said.

Students can either view this reduced winter break in an optimistic way, keeping in mind all the snow days that the future may hold, or from a more discouraged standpoint, uneasy about all of their assignments to complete during their time off. Overall, many students think that improvements could be made to this year’s schedule and are not in favor of this shorter vacation.