After a long week of classes, tests, and high school social life, the typical two-day weekend break sometimes isn’t enough to fully recharge for a full week ahead.

MCPS has a total of 33 weekends in a school year; 10 of those are long weekends with either a Monday or Friday off, including a four-day weekend on Nov. 4 and 5 due to a grading day on Monday and election day on Tuesday. In total, not including breaks like spring break and winter break, there are 16 long weekends in the school year. “I think we have a good amount of mental health days and long weekends, students just need to take better advantage of them,” social studies teacher Sophie Ehrlich said.

An extra long weekend can be a chance to catch up on homework or get ahead on assignments with the extra day. Teachers usually look at their email on days off so students can still contact any teachers with questions or concerns. “Long weekends are always a great opportunity for me to get caught up on homework or get ahead if I’m not doing anything else,” freshman Ashton Yang said.

The school day starts at 7:45 a.m. with students having to get up around 6:30 a.m. It is hard to get a good night’s sleep every night. Sometimes after a long five-day week, two days isn’t enough to catch up on sleep. An extra long weekend gives students a chance to sleep in and feel refreshed for the upcoming week. “My favorite thing to do on a long weekend is sleep in because I get behind on sleep during the week so it’s nice to be able to relax,” sophomore Ethan Kwon said.

A three- or four-day weekend can also allow time for hanging out with friends and taking a break from worrying about homework and school. “I usually will just go to the mall and hang out with my friends on a long weekend,” freshman Alex Brennan said.

Ehrlich taught for the first time last year and always makes sure to check her emails on long weekends and advises students to take advantage of long weekends and mental health days. “Mental health days are extremely important and students need to use them to relax and hang out with friends. We need to take them more seriously at this school,” Ehrlich said.

Ehrlich was also a student at this school in the graduating class of 2017. She enjoyed doing homework and catching up on work during long weekends when she went to school. “When I was a student, usually I would just do work during long weekends and sometimes relax and hang out with friends ,” Ehrlich said.