To start off the Jewish new year, students and teachers had to spend their religious days off worrying about the disadvantages they would face as a result of missing school. 

Many counties around the DMV take the high holy Jewish holidays off, such as Montgomery and Fairfax Counties. This is so Jewish teachers and students can reflect and observe the meaning of these holidays. More recently, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur came around, and Jackson-Reed’s doors stayed open. 

Jewish teachers face difficulties when it comes to taking days off for their religious holidays. Elena Horowitz said that “I take off the Jewish holidays, which means I need to use my personal time off to do that.” She also explained that she needs to “make sub plans for my students, and then I have to track [down] my students who also took off the Jewish holidays and follow up with them on everything they have missed.” 

Students and teachers feel they deserve this holiday off and they believe DCPS should consider giving it to them.

Although Jewish holidays are important for those who practice Judaism, the population of Jewish students at Jackson-Reed is little to the number of total students in the school. Some DCPS students at JR use the meal plan everyday to get the food they don’t have access to at home, “ if DCPS is closed those children will not be able to get their breakfast, lunch, or dinner,” DC Council Budget Director Jennifer Budoff said.

Students at Jackson-Reed have fallen behind on work because teachers do not take Jewish holidays into account. Student Adiv Brooks-Rubin claims, “I have 2 F’s because I’m Jewish.” Although this statement may be a bit exaggerated, not having these days off does greatly affect students’ understanding of the content they’re missing. 

A possible solution to this according to Ward 1 council member, Brianne Nadeau, is “to eliminate the February break because it’s been really hard on parents…this might give us some flexibility to have other days off like Jewish holidays.” Thanks to this alternative, hopefully by next Jewish New Year, students and teachers will have these holidays off. •