As the school bell fades on another academic year, many Nova Scotia parents have one burning question lingering in their minds: why is the last day of school only two hours long?
Tuesday is the final day of school for most public school students, and although the day starts at the normal time, most students are dismissed after just two hours.
“I think the two-hour day is kind of silly,” said Daniella Puddington, who has a child finishing up pre-primary. “I feel like for us, summer break did start Friday afternoon.”
Although the two-hour final day has been in place for many years, this time it is sandwiched between Monday’s assessment and evaluation day — when teachers attend but students do not — and Wednesday’s national holiday.
Why Nova Scotia’s last day of school is only 2 hours long
Many families choose to start their summer vacation on Friday and simply skip the two-hour day.
“I’ve always found it kind of mystifying,” said parent Dylan Gordon.
“If there isn’t some sort of educational purpose to it, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.… We don’t partake of this two-hour instructional day because it doesn’t seem to have any value — it’s just a problem.”
For some parents and guardians, the two-hour day is an inconvenience, as they may not have child care for such a short period.
“It’s kind of hard to do the school drop-off and pickup. Like, you get home, you get your other kids inside and then you gotta go right back again,” said Puddington, who added that her child won’t be in attendance on Tuesday. “I think it’s kind of pointless.”
The Education Department sets the provincial school calendar, including the partial day on the last day of school.
In a statement, a spokesperson said the two-hour day counts toward the designated number of school days per year and is an opportunity for students to “connect with their teachers and peers one last time before the summer break.”
Some students receive their report card on the final day, and teachers use the rest of the day to close up their classrooms for the summer, the statement said.
Lindsey Bunin, spokesperson for the Halifax Regional Centre for Education, said the two-hour day “provides students with an opportunity to connect with their teachers, celebrate the end of the school year, return school materials, say goodbye to classmates and staff, and wrap up the year in a positive and meaningful way.”
Families now receive report cards electronically, but Bunin said “the shortened final day is not only a holdover from paper report cards. It continues to serve an important purpose in supporting year-end classroom activities and the transition into summer.”
Students are expected to attend on the final day and attendance is recorded, but “no student will be disadvantaged” for not attending on Tuesday, Bunin said.
Kayla Lombard, who has children in grades 4, 3, 2 and Primary, said the expectation to attend is “nonsense.”
“They’re not doing anything. It’s two hours to do what?” she said. “They do nothing. They sit on the playground and play.”
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