This year, the Howard Community College Spring Break no longer matched up with that of the Howard County Public School System (HCPSS). The change created a number of problems, and next year’s break will again overlap with the HCPSS. While HCC went on break March 22nd-28th, the HCPSS went on break April 14th-21st. The change in schedule directly affected Jumpstart/dual-enrolled high school students who also take courses at the college. HCC employees with children in the HCPSS were also negatively impacted by the misaligned breaks.
Raeya Linton, a student in the Jumpstart program, says the schedule was inconvenient as she did not have a full break from school.
“This year’s schedule has impacted me by how much the schedules in my family differ… I had to take my classes, which killed the thought of any vacation,” she said.
Dual-enrolled student Eirroe Gomez says that the new schedule was a large inconvenience to their spring break schedule.
“The separate spring breaks were incredibly inconvenient,” they said. “I definitely missed assignments that I wasn’t able to make up. It prevented me from fully enjoying my time with my family, and my grade still hasn’t recovered.”
Dr. Hanael Bianchi, a professor at HCC, says the break was inconvenient for the dual-enrolled students in his in-person and online classes.
“Many students missed classes. I noticed a significant drop in student grades and missed assignments during the HCPSS break… I have several JumpStart students who had nearly perfect attendance, but missed all the classes during the HCPSS break,” he said. “I am teaching a section of Middle College, and for that section, I had to do Zoom lectures, which was a major inconvenience for the students and myself.”
HCC’s 2025 Spring Break schedule this year also didn’t include Easter Monday, a large concern for staff and students who celebrate the holiday. Eirroe says that the break didn’t accommodate those students.
“I don’t feel that it was right for HCC’s break to not include Easter Monday,” said Eirroe.
“I know one of my friends missed class due to it, and attendance in that class is graded.” Dr. Bianchi says, “I was unable to visit with my parents for the Easter holiday because of the school schedule.”
According to faculty, a revised Spring 2026 schedule has been distributed, so HCC has decided to change back to scheduling overlapping breaks, aligning the school systems. Raeya says that with the schedule returned, dual-enrolled students can enjoy a full spring break. “I look forward to the schedules overlapping again, because it will give me a true break to fully let my mind reset and refuel for the remainder of the school year/semester,” she said.
Eirroe says that dual enrolled students deserve a full break to spend time with their families, “I think changing the breaks to the same time would be incredibly beneficial to Jumpstart students. We deserve a proper break to rest and spend time with family.”
More detailed questions about the spring break schedules and reasons for the changes were sent to HCC dual enrollment staff, who directed inquiries to senior academic officers.
