Anytime Gretna Public Schools is in session while other Omaha-area districts have a day off school, like the half-day before Thanksgiving, it’s common to hear complaints and frustrations from the student population. At first glance, it may seem like Gretna has considerably more school days when compared to other districts in the metro, but this isn’t entirely true.
Compared to a handful of other school districts in the metro, like Millard Public Schools and Elkhorn Public Schools, Gretna does have the most school days with 180, but the other districts aren’t far behind. The average amount of school days for an Omaha school district is about 175, only 5 fewer days than Gretna.
Multiple different factors result in these extra days. A major one, especially recently, is GPS having true snow days. Compared to other districts that do E-learning, if Gretna gets a snow day, students get a full day off with no new assignments. This is able to happen due to days built into the calendar, making the total number of school days higher.
“I like Gretna’s Snow Days because it gives me a chance to relax and not worry about schoolwork,” freshman Leah Logan said.
Something else to consider is when the school year ends for GPS. Gretna’s last day of school is May 22, which, on average, is a day or two earlier than other metro districts like Millard. So, while there may be fewer breaks in between, Gretna does end up starting summer break earlier.
Additionally, Gretna has a higher rate of success when compared to other metro districts like Omaha Public Schools. While OPS only has 164 school days, they have only a 74% graduation rate compared to Gretna High School’s 98% graduation rate last year, according to Public School Review. Taking a look at the overall testing rank for Nebraska, GPS sits comfortably at rank 14 while OPS ranks at 241 of 246 districts. These extra school days help out the students in the long run.
Many GPS students do not fully appreciate these benefits. While it would be nice to have extra breaks like MPS, having true snow days and getting out of school earlier makes up for that. Plus, getting a greater education is something not to overlook. Students should be more grateful for the positive things we have instead of focusing on the negatives.
At the end of the day, no school calendar can satisfy everyone. There are always pros and cons to any schedule used by a school district. It’s important to be appreciative of what we have because we could have it much worse.
