Half days are eagerly awaited on by students; the week drags on as days are counted down until the day of early release arrives. But why do students get out of class? This year, the school has four planned half days, two in the Fall and two in the Spring.

“The half-days are set up to allow teachers to the opportunity for professional development because with the new school years set-up, it’s harder and harder [for] teachers to be able to go and participate in workshops. One complaint a lot of teachers have is that we are not given opportunity to have really good professional development. People may not realize [that] we have to have so many professional development hours in order to qualify for recertification. While that comes with the job, and we know that, really not all teachers can take that time off,” English teacher Crys Hodgens said.

Teachers have to learn, too. Professional development is a way to make sure students are being taught by up-to-date individuals. Most teachers are so busy in day-to-day life that it is hard to find time for professional development.

“We are going to have a speaker from Central Office come talk to us about special education training and some high-impact type instruction to work with all learning levels. We are going to also have someone from the Crisis Intervention of North Alabama come and talk to us about suicide prevention and identifying depression,” history teacher Jennifer McKinney said.

This year is the first year implementing the half-day system for professional development. After Huntsville City Schools had a successful experience with the method, it was adopted for the 2014-15 school year.

“I don’t know if I’ll be excited about the professional development but I just like the fact that you guys get a break yourselves, because it is kind of monotonous to come here every single day, it’s almost like a reward. Just hang in there because a half day’s coming,” Hodgens said.

The new system allows students to be released early. While most students are excited about this, it may have unwarranted consequences in the classroom. Teachers attempt to make up for lost time with homework over the weekend.

“We don’t give teenagers enough credit. You guys tend to go with the flow. I think [teachers] are the ones who stress you guys out about the missing of the class. Ultimately, if you know you’re not going to see your kids, then give them something to do at home. That way they’re missing class, but they’re not missing the material,” Hodgens said.

Another point addressed is that of a teacher catch-up. When students hear “teacher half-day,” they immediately assume it is a day for teachers to play catch-up on grading and paperwork. While the days are primarily for professional development, some schools allow a half day for teachers to take a breath and get work done.

“In Huntsville City last year, they did one half day so they could do meetings with parents and they did another where it wasn’t professional development but there was [professional development] and catch-up,” Hodgens said.

Some teachers have proposed an expansion of professional development. For example, ideas such as sessions about different subjects (i.e. tech in the class room, book study, teacher-student cooperation) that teachers could attend by choice.

“[Students] get out early, so you don’t care. I hope whatever they give us is going to be something that is not disengaging and boring because we are actually worse than you all when we’re in workshops and stuff. If people are forced to be there, it’s different than if people are there by choice,” Hodgens said.

As the trial run of the new system begins, changes remain to be seen. There may be negative consequences for students missing class. Or there could be positive teaching and grades from the mid-year support teachers are getting.

“It’s just trading professional development from one time to another,” McKinney said. “Usually we do our professional development at the start of the school year, before you guys come back from Christmas. I’m not really sure how this will exactly affect all of us from that standpoint.”