No Homework Days Give Reason to Celebrate
No homework days were first introduced to the Nutley school district last year, during the 23-24 school year. No homework days are days that the district has marked where teachers are prohibited from assigning homework, as a way to allow students to celebrate their respective holidays.
Students can thank Nutley parent Deb Alper for their precious no homework days, as she was the one who led the push towards establishing them. Alper said, “We first began to reach out to the Board of Education in October 2022. Folks in the community began attending BOE meetings. We were also contacting all the BOE members separately. It was during those conversations (and speaking at BOE meetings) we asked that no homework be assigned during Yom Kippur and the first night of Rosh Hashanah. It was the BOE that expanded the list of dates for various religious observances starting in Sept. 2023.”
As a mother with children in the district, Alper saw how difficult it was for students to balance both observing their holy holidays with family and keeping up with school work. She wanted to relieve the usual burden of homework so that students of all religions could be free to observe their holidays.
Although some might not feel the direct importance of these no homework days, many greatly value and appreciate them. For example, freshman Menal Nagi, who celebrated the Muslim holiday of Eid back in April, noticed how much more time she had to focus on her holiday without the added pressure of homework. Nagi said, “[No] homework days are really important because I spend about 2-3 hours on homework every day, and it's really hard being out all day for a holiday, and then having to worry about my work when I get home.”
Freshman Mindy Pham had similar experiences: “Prior to no homework days, I struggled with homework during the time of the Lunar New Year, as I often felt very overwhelmed trying to balance schoolwork and family gatherings.” Since the implementation of no homework days, Pham found Lunar New Year to be a much less stressful time.
Despite the great successes of her efforts, Alper believes that there is still more to be done. First, she states that the no homework days should be policy, because at the moment it is considered more of a procedure as there are no written guidelines. Additionally, Alper sees these new no homework days as a learning experience. “It would help if the school district provided educational information, perhaps one paragraph, that describes each of the no homework holidays to the community the day before the holiday. This would promote a better understanding of each other,” she said.
