The “October slump” is a familiar concept to students and faculty alike.

Whereas second semester is punctuated by two week-long breaks, first semester has only five school days off, and it’s a time when seniors are bogged down with college applications along with heavy class loads.

The LGSUHSD school board recently sought to address this issue by integrating one more day off during October starting next year. Both 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 calendars have four-day weekends in the first week of October. In 2017, Oct. 6 will be off and in 2018, Oct. 5 will be off. According to the Jane Marashian, assistant to the superintendent, an annual staff development day was scheduled for the first time in October 2014. After receiving positive feedback for this short break from students in the years since, the board looked to give not only students, but also staff a much-needed additional day off.

The school board adopted a new calendar for the next two school years with a unanimous vote.

“This year, the calendar committee was supportive of continuing the October Staff Development Day and providing one additional day off,” Marashian said. “The calendar now includes breaks at somewhat regular intervals throughout the school year.”

According to Marashian, this change was made based on stakeholder input. This includes representatives from the feeder districts Los Gatos Union, Saratoga Union, Lakeside and Loma Prieta, as well as  the athletics, music, electives and various other academic departments.

Assistant principal Brian Safine hopes the strategically placed October break will relieve students’ stress in the midst of a busy month near college deadlines.

“The curriculum is going full speed in October, so we could all benefit from a little time off,” Safine said. “The break gives both students and staff at least a long weekend to recharge their batteries.”