Ben Lin ‘26

DISTRIBUTION MANAGER

Snow days, holidays, and seasonal breaks are a few examples of no-school days for both students and teachers. However, in-service days present an egregious difference: teachers are in school, but students aren’t. Why are these days so different from the rest? Despite the argument that in-service days should be an opportunity for teachers to also have a day off, their benefits to both teachers and students refute this argument.

As its name suggests, in-service days are intentionally designed to have only teachers present in school. In-service days are rare, yet valuable, opportunities for teachers to collaborate with their colleagues, aiding in their professional development. Furthermore, in-service days enable teachers to reflect on the curriculum and their students' progress relative to Advanced Placement (AP) Exams, the end of the school year, or students’ personal academic goals. From this evaluation, teachers can improve their teaching by adjusting their methods or learning new ones. On a normal school day, teachers aren’t granted these opportunities, since they would be teaching classes.

In-service days also benefit teachers and student learning. During in-service days, teachers are able to improve and tailor their curriculum and teaching methods according to the progress and needs of the students. Every school year is different and so are the students, including their strengths and weaknesses; therefore, it's unreasonable to assume that a set curriculum is suitable for all students year after year. In-service days provide an opportunity for teachers to adjust based on the initial response of the students and continue to make improvements with each in-service meeting. Teachers’ efforts to improve will be noticed by the students and reflected in the student performance, illustrating how in-service days reap many benefits for both teachers and students.