Many compare the summer months to the weekend. June represents a Friday—the perfect balance between working hard and then being rewarded by knowing about all the excitement that is ahead. July is none other than a Saturday—you can relax and recharge, all with the comfort of being aware that there is still more time before you have to return to all your responsibilities. August is, of course, Sunday. Although the time off is coming to an end, it is not over just yet. You can still rest, rejuvenate, and prepare for the coming week.
But, unfortunately for Tenafly students, this comparison has recently become inaccurate. Not because our weekends were cut short, but rather because our summer was. August 2025, for us, was not a Sunday. Instead, it was a Monday.
Due to school ending towards the end of June last year, students had a shortened summer break and had to come back in August. Ever since the Tenafly seniors were kindergarteners, they have always been comforted by the fact that their school year does not begin until after Labor Day. Besides, it is widely regarded that Memorial Day weekend is the “unofficial start of summer” and Labor Day weekend is the “unofficial end of summer.” However, this year, the seniors, as well as all other students, were not reassured by this fact as summer break did not fall on either of these dates. Rather, we were in the midst of the school year during both.
This year’s summer break was exactly 70 days, from June 18th to August 27th. If we had started school as usual, we could have had an extra seven days of beloved summer vacation. You can accomplish a great deal in that one week. This includes summer programs, family vacations, and even work. Families had to cut their summer vacations short, and some had to cancel their trips altogether because there was simply not enough time. Additionally, a handful of students had to leave their summer jobs early because their school year started way too soon. In addition, students at THS were assigned an immense amount of summer assignments, and they should have had more time to complete them.
When the news was first announced, Tenafly students were outraged. My email was filled with petitions created by my peers who asked for enough signatures to hopefully convince the board that we should begin our school year after Labor Day. Now, a few weeks into the school year, my opinion has not changed: we should have had that extra week of summer.
Students are reluctant to come to school when they could be soaking up the last moments of summer and, therefore, are less inclined to perform well both academically and athletically. By starting school at the usual time, instead of being burnt out and tired, we would be well-rested and ready for a new school year. And all the other schools begin after Labor Day, so why should Tenafly be any different?
“I think starting school in August is just a bad idea,” Manuela Ibarra (’28) said. “August is still summer, and even though we only lost a week of the break, it felt like forever. We had off for Labor Day just a few days after school began, so why not stick with what works, start school after the holiday, and have the entirety of August be part of summer vacation?”
The answer to this question goes back to Tenafly Superintendent Michael Ben-David. He had proposed this idea in 2023. By starting school earlier, he believes, we can get a head start on our education.
“So long as NJ maintains its 180 requirement, and so long as districts continue to recognize an increasingly diverse basket of holidays, the shifting of the school calendar (i.e earlier start/earlier end) remains one of the simplest and most cost effective ways of manufacturing a performance advantage for Tenafly students while also easing many of the stressors (e.g. transitions, athletics, college applications, testing, graduation, summer jobs) that currently exist,” Ben-David said. “Ten years from now there will be two groups of districts in New Jersey—those that start and end earlier, and those that should have.”
Additionally, some may say that by starting the new school year closer to the end of the previous one, we would retain more information and forget less of what we learned a few months prior (even though it was only a week earlier—can we really forget that much in a single week?) Moreover, seniors can start their college applications earlier, and all students will have more prep time for AP Exams in May. And, the most appealing of these reasons is that, as a result of starting earlier, we can get a longer February break. The irony, though, is that this year, our February break is only three days. Is that worth giving up an entire week of summer? Most Tenafly students and staff do not, and I completely agree.
Although there are both pros and cons to this controversial change, I personally believe that the negatives heavily outweigh the positives, and Tenafly should reconsider starting school in September.
