As students, homework is a huge part of school, sometimes the reasons children dread going to school. Every class, every day, for weeks on end. Some people manage, some people don’t, however in the end we all do it, or at least say we do it. There have been many arguments proposed for homework, but also against it. Some say that homework is a huge component of learning, others say it is unnecessary and worthless. We didn’t plan on creating any sort of elaborate college paper pleading for less homework in schools, rather we wanted to gather perspective for ourselves, and for you all reading this, in order to create a better understanding of the average Berkeley Carroll student’s homework load across the school. 

Two freshmen we asked, Lily B. (‘25) and Maggie G. (‘25), told us similar answers on the type and amount of homework they get. Lily said that there is more homework than last year, and it’s more stressful because there are more classes giving lots of work. Maggie told us the same, but she added that the homework is more interesting and less “busy” work. Lily spends about 30 minutes to 1 hour doing homework, while Maggie spends 2 to 3 hours doing homework on a normal night, and 3 to 4 if she has a project. Though it is a lot of homework, neither person finds themselves asking for lots of extensions or having late homework. As 9th graders, both Maggie and Lily told us that sometimes the homework feels redundant, but a lot of it is necessary. 

We then asked sophomore Claudia T. (‘24) about her take on homework. She told us she would typically spend around an hour doing homework a night, a small difference to the 9th graders’ 2 hour average. A senior told us that they felt freshmen to sophomore year was the biggest jump of work for them, and she had to learn how to study better. 

11th grade was almost the exact same. We spoke to Michael M. (‘23) about his homework intake, and he told us that he typically spends the same amount of time as Claudia on weeknights. However, it’s over the weekends where he really struggles. Based on not just Michael, but the murmurs from the 11th grade we’ve been hearing, there is a lot of outside time dedicated to SATs. This seems to be the biggest time consumer within the grade, and does require a lot of work, as it then leads into their further college life. 

Of all the grades we spoke to, it seemed as though the 12th had the least school work, but lots of outside work to do. With most, if not all, their SAT prep out of the way, the 12th grades’ worries were summative assignments in school, but also the process of applying to colleges. 12th grader, Carly S. (‘22), told us that in the second semester, she usually had 40 minutes of homework on a weekday, and around 3 hours on a weekend. She also told us that  she found herself having more late assignments in the first semester, because of the college process. 

After finishing up our interviews with the students, we realized that we had forgotten about the people who actually assign the homework, the teachers. We sat down with Dr. Rodberg to get her views and ideas on what a regular student’s homework schedule should look like. Pertaining to only her classes, she explained that typically, whether the assignment be a reading or paper, it should usually take a student around 45 minutes to finish this homework. Now compile this with all the other classes and homework assignments a student usually has on a regular day, and you’ve got a pretty set night of work. 

Cover photo credit: Will Farjami