The break between first and second semester is the perfect second winter break: there’s little to no work to be done and binge-watching Netflix has virtually no repercussions. With third quarter extended one week due to snow days and now ending after break on April 8, spring break is going to be different. Studying and homework are going to replace movies and trips to Yirasai for many students.

Spring break should be a time for students to relax and refocus before diving into fourth quarter AP exams and finals. For many, the added work is taking away from more than just lazy days and Netflix.

“We have crew training during spring break, and we have seven hours of practice every day,” senior Erin Solloway said. “The rest of our time is spent napping and eating so I’m not going to have any motivation or energy to do a million school projects.”

Students also use the break for college visits or SSL projects, which will be difficult with an increased workload.

Material that teachers had to cut out does need to be covered in time for exams, but every other year that we’ve lost days due to snow, course material seems to be covered in time.

In the 2013-2014 school year, schools closed for 10 days and MCPS didn’t really extend the school year, only taking away one professional day at the end of spring break to accommodate the days lost.

The situation is far less dire this year, with only six snow days, one of which was a non-instructional exam makeup day. So far no days have been added to the end of the year.

The extra week may help overall in finishing units and reviewing for exams, but in the short-term, it proves to be a scheduling problem for teachers, who have to add to their third quarter material.

They will also have to grade or finish assignments during break, which is usually a relaxing period for them too.

The math department also said that most teachers don’t plan on changing their schedules to accommodate the change, effectively making the change pointless. Most teachers are still having assessments and assignments the week after break but are leaving them on the fourth quarter gradebook as originally planned.