From March 28 to April 5, Rancho Cucamonga High School students and staff will take a week-long recess for vacation and preparation for state and AP testing.
This long anticipated break means the increase of popular vacation destinations like theme parks such as Disneyland and Six Flags and tropical cities such as Miami and the Bahamas.
Mr. Ronald Statzel, an English teacher for sophomores and juniors, expressed excitement about his planned family vacation during the week.
“We’re gonna go to Disneyland,” Statzel said. “It’s been like a year since the kids have gone, so it might be fun to watch them rediscover the magic.”
Statzel and his family often take the entire week for vacation, returning home the day before school resumes.
However, despite the excitement of a week without school or work, the arrival of state testing still weighs heavy on students and staff.
Statzel noted the stress associated with preparing students for testing and his involvement in preparing students to take the exam.
“I make sure to integrate different test taking strategies and different attributes of the test into my curriculum constantly,” Statzel said.
Statzel recognized that although the break was a well-deserved reward for students and staff, there is still some pressure to do well on testing immediately after vacation.
Testing also imposes additional stress on teachers to finish their lessons due to the integration of block scheduling, in which students will only attend half of their classes per day.
For students who don’t plan on taking a vacation, sleeping in and test preparations will likely dominate most of the week.
Unfortunately, not all students will be able to use the week for leisure activities or to study.
Senior Clarissa Quevedo mentioned that students in extracurriculars need an additional week to prepare as they do not receive sufficient rest and preparation time compared to their peers.
“I think we should have more breaks, especially for people with extra activities that don’t have a lot of time to study,” Quevedo said.
Statzel agreed with Quevedo’s statement about giving students and staff more time off.
“Even just giving three-day weekends more frequently would probably be good for teacher and student morale,” Statzel said.
