It doesn’t matter whether you are in 1st grade or 12th grade. A week before vacation or months out from a vacation. Going to an Ashburnham Westminster, Fitchburg, or Gardner school. Students will know 1 thing in common; ½ days are godsends, especially when your school is in a dry spell of vacations or days off.

What’s so good about ½ days?

Many things make ½ days such hidden gems. 

Firstly, and most obviously, you get extra free time.  It’s very good for teenagers to have some extra time on their hands now and then, whether you have a detailed and elaborate plan to hang out with friends, or just want to chill and play some games on account of a not-so-deliberate last-minute decision you made on the bus.

Believe it or not, the second reason is for all the classroom sleepers. This doesn’t need much explanation, but it’s good for some students to be able to leave early and get a nap at home, especially after many late-night scrolling sessions. I’ve never really been a nap person, but I am sure some students do.

Third and finally, is that most of the time, school work is light. Since the classes aren’t 80 minutes on these rare days, many kind teachers will often assign very light work. In my experience as a ½ day connoisseur, I can proudly say that teachers will take it easy. 

However, staying focused on your work can be a challenge if you’re feeling that ½ day hype.

½ Day hype?

½ day hype is pretty self-explanatory. It’s the hype among the students to leave early and get started early on whatever they’re doing after school.

However, it’s one of those odd things in life where the hype itself is better than the actual event or things that are happening. To go further, a half-day isn’t a day off, so you still have to attend your classes before you’re free. 

Some Oakmont students, however, just don’t show up, treating it like a day off. I will never believe anybody who calls out “sick” on a half day. 

What’s the school schedule for the day like?

There is nothing to dislike about getting to go home early from school.

It feels like when you get home from school, you get a whole new part of the day to yourself. For those more socially inclined, having a couple of hours of free time on your hands now and then is great to have.

I can’t always relate to that, regardless of my social abilities (or lack thereof).

Oakmont ½ day schedules are pretty self-explanatory. For example, ½ day cut out lunch and a 10-minute break.

Classes are usually around the ballpark of 50 minutes long and passing time is only a couple of minutes. While it may seem like you’re losing a lot of time, especially because you now have less time in your favorite English class, getting out just after 11 in the morning is worth it. 

The schedule is very straightforward. However, the classes can feel long, depending on the subject. If it’s something like science class, it’ll feel like a regular day. But if it’s something like Journalism, it’ll fly by like a bullet train. 

What are ½ days like?

Now, I’ll speak directly from the experience of an average Oakmont student.

The 1st block will go by fast. It is a mix of focusing on your work, and getting that excitement remembering that it’s a half day. But take this with a grain of salt, as if you have some work that needs to be done, you’re probably thinking about what you will do when you get home, and your ability to focus will probably go out the window. Usually, however, most teachers won’t assign that much work on a half day. Despite there still being a lot of time left, the 1st block of a half-day is the living embodiment of the saying “You gotta start somewhere.”

The 2nd block is a mix of eagerness to leave, and realizing there’s still time left in the school day. My B block is always a class that goes by fast. So no matter what will be going on in my B block, I’ll always find a way to slack off, until the block ends. I’m sure many other students at Oakmont proudly use this tactic as well.

By the 3rd block, the mix part is gone. It’s all eagerness to leave. After all, the only thing standing between you and your free time is 2 blocks. It feels like you are making it through the day, just at a tortoise’s pace when you start to count the time. You also might start to get hungry by this point, as this is around the time when Oakmont students will eat lunch. But as soon as the bell rings, it’s only 1 block between you and your well-deserved free time.

Through many grueling and harrowing minutes of staring at your Chromebook blankly, it’s finally arrived; the 4th block. Since the day is almost over, it’s quite evident that by this point the students are already ready to leave. I’d be more hungry than I’d be eager to leave. Going between doing your light work and checking the time is something I and many other students will frequently do. Nonetheless, the class time will eventually pass. 

After many classes, now comes the best part of a ½ day: leaving school. Going on the bus and sitting down, and knowing that you have hours of free time on your hands is a great feeling. One could even say that the ½ day hype is better than the ½ day and the free time combined.

What’s my final take?

In all seriousness, half days are seriously amazing, once you finish your classes. In my experience, having Journalism halfway through the day (I’ve had it in both B and C blocks), is one of the better classes to have. However, other classes are extra fun on half days. 

My final words will be; next time there’s a half day, take half a second to remember that you need to finish your classes before you can get home.