On chol hamoed, many schools have off. Ramaz, on the other hand, is one of the schools that is in session during these days. Many students complain about this, thinking that we shouldn’t have school. Contrary to the majority opinion, I think that we should have school on chol hamoed.

According to New York state law, it is required for a school to have 180 days. Ramaz plans out the calendar so that we can meet the minimum requirements and have a few extra days in case. Having school on chol hamoed counts towards those 180 days. I would rather have school on short days with some fun activities rather than a long, full day of school. Last year, Ramaz ended earlier than many schools allowing students more time for summer vacation. Because we have school on chol hamoed, we can end earlier because we meet the requirements. This also allows for more flexibility to have a day off from school. If it’s snowing and we can’t get to school, Ramaz is more likely to give us off than to give us zoom. If we didn’t have school on chol hamoed, we would need to zoom in order to reach the requirements.

Since we end school earlier on chol hamoed, this allows time to go out after school with friends. It makes it easier to spend time with friends since  everyone is  already in the city. Being a commuter, I find it easier to do stuff with my friends after school on chol hamoed. I’m already in the city and I have a lot of time before I need to get home. For me, it’s hard to get into the city on days we don’t have school. Since we have school these days, I can be with them after as opposed to just going home. Since it’s still a special day, there are no tests or homework these days, so there’s no stress and no pile of work to get done.

Being in school on chol hamoed can also be fun. The school makes breakfast at the beginning of the day and has an activity planned for us. This allows time for us to spend quality time with our friends and grade. The alternative would be to sleep in and find something to fill your time. The activities may be short, but they give us a chance to spend time with our classmates.