After a shortened spring break for the 2018-2019 school year, the Montgomery County Board of Education will bring back a longer spring break with ten days for the next school year.

The Board of Education made this decision after many complaints from students and parents in the MCPS community. MCPS Superintendent Jack Smith told Bethesda Magazine that the community showed a “high priority on the duration of spring break.”

The MCPS community made sure to express their desire for a longer spring break. Board Member Pat O’Neill told Bethesda Magazine, “There was an overwhelming support to go back to the full spring break, so I think the stars aligned, so to speak, in developing this calendar to accommodate all of the days we want or need.”

The new change was cheered by Watkins Mill staff. Social studies teacher Tilghman Gordon said, “Having a longer spring bring is obviously more desirable and I am glad they made the change back to a longer spring break.”

This year, spring break will start on April 17, 2019 and classes will resume on April 22, 2019. This means spring break will be a total of three school days, not including the weekends. Sophomore Shaneka Francis said, “It just feels like a long weekend rather than a real spring break.”

Many students are unhappy with this year’s shortened spring break. Students feel like they have no time to relax, study, or spend time with family before the stressful testing days approach. Junior Yesenia Pineda said, “It feels like a setback for us because we are so used to a longer spring break.”

Not only will the shortened break affect students, but it will also affect the school’s staff. Science teacher Ferdinand Camarote said, “While [having a shorter spring break] doesn’t affect my grading, it affects me mentally because I don’t have as much time as I did to relax.”

The new and longer spring break will allow more time for students to de-stress, something they do not have the luxury of this year. “A lot of students liked a longer spring break and the fact that we have that back means that the shorter spring break was not working,” Francis added.