Over the four day weekend of Feb. 16, KHS had its first ever no homework weekend. This was the first of two no homework weekends, the other being the weekend of March 9. According to Dr. Michael Havener, KHS principal, this two weekend pilot program was decided on after conversation over emotional and social well being of students.

“After long discussions from parents and teachers, it was decided that this would be a pilot program only for two weekends,” Havener said. “[The intent is] to see the effects of trying to reset after the holiday weekend.”

All students with no missing work were not required to do homework over the weekend. According to Havener, teachers were asked not to have tests on Tuesday after the weekend is over, and not to assign an overwhelming amount of work before or after the break. Students were encouraged to spend time reading for pleasure over the holiday weekend.

“Reading is good for you,” Havener said. “This is an opportunity for you to read what you want to read and handle your weekend with less stress.”

Questions were raised over whether the no homework weekend was worth the stress of the preceding week. Students have reported frontloading of work by teachers, including numerous tests.

“I think some teachers are trying to put as much as they can on us this week,” Arka Bhattacharya, sophomore, said. “They know they can’t assign stuff over the weekend, so it’s fair.”

As of now, there is no saying whether KHS will have any more no homework weekends. According to Havener, feedback from parents, students and teachers will be taken into account when determining if the pilot program was a success.

“I hope [the no homework weekend] is successful, so we can have it again,” Aiden Fales, sophomore, said. “It’s nice to have weekends where you don’t have to worry about [homework].”