Though midwinter break passed, it consisted of Feb. 20 and 21, and in those two days, Senior Mrudula Sriram relaxed and tooktime off from school after adjusting to a new schedule. She went to Chicago for a college interview, and she brought home a new dog to her family. While some RHS students travelled like Sriram, others stayed at home or saw friends they didn’t get to see at school. Although some believe that mid winter break was long enough, some think that two days just wasn’t enough to unwind and destress.

Seniors especially want a longer midwinter break, and that is mainly due to the lack of time with family and friends if they’re going away for college. Sriram thinks that there should be a longer break to spend quality time with those she might not see for a while.

“Midwinter break isn’t long enough, I feel like it should be a week [5 whole school days] because it’s kind of weird having just 2 random days off,” Sriram said.  “Seniors especially wanna go on break with their friends, so having a weeklong midwinter break could give them a chance to do something with their families too before going away to college.”

But the reality is, though, if break was longer, the school year would be longer. Two days allows students to get out early (June 16) and have a longer summer break than some other school districts have.

“I know that some of those districts that have the full week get out later in June because they take those extra days,” English teacher Mr. Gollon said. “I think that’s one advantage to keeping our break short because it does allow us to get out earlier in June, which I think is a little more effective.”

A few years ago, RCS did have a longer midwinter break, and some students, like Sriram, liked having it that way. But, the school year did become longer because of the extension.

“I remember when RCS used to have week-long midwinter breaks when I was a really young kid, but recently I think they stopped doing that because they want us to get more things done in an efficient manner,” Sriram said. “The district thinks that it makes all of us more efficient learners if breaks or timings are shortened because we [RHS students] can get more done.”

A downside to having a shortened break would be the lack of time to do enjoyable things, such as go on vacation somewhere. Junior Natally Boutros believes that two days isn’t enough, and it should be longer to get a more exciting and pleasant break.

“Rochester tries to live up to an expectation, [so midwinter break] is two days,” Boutros said. “That’s not enough time for me to go to on the perfect vacation; I want to go to Lebanon for a week at least.”

All in all, despite the different opinions facing mid winter break, the two days off should be spent with friends, family, and in amusement.

“Hopefully it’ll [midwinter break] be nice weather wise,” Mr. Gollon said. “And to anyone who’s travelling: [they] will safely get to where they have to [be] and safely make it back.”