School gives students day off in October

Following the Homecoming dance Saturday night, students will have the chance to sleep in not only once but twice thanks to the the school’s decision to add an extra day off for them this Monday.

For many years, teachers and students have complained about the long, stressful stretch without a break from Labor Day to Veterans’ Day. This year, the administration decided to take the matter into their own hands and created a break for students on Oct. 11.

“Teachers have been asking for a number of years, ‘How can we get a vacation in October?'” said principal Jeff Anderson. “The concern is that [the students] get cooked.”

Throughout last year, the administration considered many different ways to add a day off for students in October, but at the same time maintain the same number of school days.

“We played with the option of getting rid of the Wednesday before Thanksgiving break,” said Anderson.”Instead we decided to make [Oct. 11] just a teacher work day and a student holiday.”

Though both high schools in the district, Los Gatos and Saratoga, have to follow a similar calendar, both are given a certain amount of leeway with teacher work days. In order to have a teacher work day in October, the administration had to move the teacher work days around. Normally, teachers had a work day the Friday after finals week; instead, this year, the finals schedule will be changed so that there will be two finals on Tuesday, two on Wednesday, two on Thursday and one of Friday, which will most likely be seventh period.

“I don’t think any students are going to say, ‘No don’t give me a day off’,” said Anderson. “It’s a different vibe for the teachers when the students are not here; it’s not better, but it’s a more relaxed schedule.”