Students of every public school in Loudoun County face a shortened winter break due to the added holidays dispersed throughout the school schedule. This allows students to have more days off during the school year. 

A petition has been put up by an anonymous user, but no doubt a student of Loudoun County Public Schools, to extend winter break. Though there is a bit of an absence of commas in the title of the petition – “Extend Winter Break for LCPS Schools Students and Faculty,” it’s very clear what they are hoping to accomplish with this petition. So far, a little over 7,000 people have signed it, the current goal being 7,500 signatures. However, LCPS has not made any confirmation that they have acknowledged the article, and winter break has not extended. One comment in particular wrote an entire block of text on why they thought we should sign the petition. On December 12, 2023, user i forgot my name. wrote, “While the current dates for this break are perfect for friends and family that travel only for Christmas, coming back to school so early after the new year is not ideal.” This embodies a lot of the other opinions of the students of LCPS, though not all.

While the students of LCPS are suffering, so are the teachers. Lots of teachers do not grade quickly, so the extra days of winter break would be beneficial for them to hopefully get that important stuff like grading out of the way. Not only would it help with the work they have, but it would also benefit their health, as many have lives outside of school just like everybody else.

3 days being taken off of winter break may not seem like a big deal to everyone, but for some, it can make a huge difference. After all, it is a whole 72 hours of break cut out.