District students get a two-week break, more than their peers
CITYWIDE For students in the Santa Monica Malibu-Unified School District, spring break is more than a week off from homework and school obligations.
In fact, it’s two weeks off from homework and school obligations.
On day three of their 10-day reprieve from high school, Samohi freshman Arianwen Steele enjoyed a Hot Dog on a Stick lunch at the Santa Monica Place food court with her friend, sophomore Shaina Geller, and Justin Gutzwa, a freshman at Meadows School in Las Vegas who was in town visiting his buddies.
The teens have been on spring break since Monday.
Unlike many school districts in Southern California, where students are granted one week off every spring, the students in SMMUSD get two solid weeks without teachers, bells and rules. But the students here don’t have any advantage in terms of total school days, with the extra week of vacation in the spring being docked off in summer vacation time.
The girls see the two weeks of vacation as a necessary distraction from school work and don’t believe it takes Samohi students off their rhythm. Once vacation is over, the students at Samohi don’t have any trouble getting back into the swing of things, she said.
“As you get more into high school, teachers give many projects to do over break,” Geller said. “It keeps you thinking.”
Parents seem to embrace the two weeks their children have off for spring break. SMMUSD PTA President Laura Rosenbaum said the timing is perfect since it gives families the ability to celebrate all the holidays — Easter and Passover — without school on the back of their minds.
“I don’t think two weeks disrupts the flow,” Rosenbaum said. “It’s a closure to things going on since winter break.”
On the east coast, students typically get a week off around February and another week off in the spring, Rosenbaum said. In Northern California, Rosenbaum said she knows families whose children have a week off in February for skiing.
For the students who don’t leave town, the city of Santa Monica offers a spring break camp program for students ages 8 to 14 who are interested in sports and performing arts.
The city is currently accommodating more than 80 kids, said Julie Kim, an administrator with the city’s Youth Activities division.
Not all students can stay away from school during the two weeks. A member of the swim team, Steele still has to report for practice four days a week, including this week and next.
Approximately 55 percent of the students at Samohi will be going out of town for spring break, according to a sample survey conducted by The Samohi student newspaper.
But the two students who spent their afternoon at the food court on Wednesday plan to stay put, laying out on the beach, catching a movie, window shopping and just hanging out with friends.
Their out-of-towner friend said he isn’t envious that he only gets a week off from school.
At Samohi, many students take tests before spring break, so it’s the perfect time of year to unwind.
“By the time I get to spring break, I’m stressed out and need a break,” Steele said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 5, 2007. Read the original PDF.