Across America senior skip days have been part of the culture among high schoolers for years. Many see it as a rite of passage for seniors, a reward for their hard work over four years. This past October, a select group of seniors at U of D attempted to secretly schedule a skip day on Halloween.
This was to no avail, however, as the plot was discovered by several unnamed faculty members, as stated in an email sent out by Principal Smith. In the email Dr. Smith stated: “This is a friendly reminder that the school does not endorse “skip days”…”. He would go on to state that attendance is very important to academic success here at the High and in order to miss that specific day of school a doctor’s note would be required for the day to count as an excused absence.
There has been much discussion and debate among the senior class as to when the skip day should take place. Some point out that taking a day off in the first semester when college applications are underway does not make sense as opposed to the second semester, which is notorious for the setting in of “senioritis,” which could potentially justify the use of a skip day. Xavier Poole, a senior at the High, shared some of his opinions regarding the skip day and when it should take place. He personally was not a fan of the skip day being planned for the first semester: “I feel like second semester, senior year, is the more relaxing semester and it’s supposed to be the more mellowed out semester.” He would go on to say, “First semester is the working hard semester. That’s when you want to get your college apps done. That’s when you want to get your grades up for colleges and stuff.”
The administration has been more involved in watching over the senior skip days after the class of 2025 took more than four skip days across the whole year when usually it is limited to just one day. Poole would comment on this by saying, “Like, as long as we aren’t abusing it, I feel like we should be cool.”
The class of 2026 looks forward to participating in something that has been part of American high school culture for years, but with the new approach that the administration has taken with regards to skip days, they have decided it must be planned carefully.
