New Schedule Leaves Much to be Desired

The new schedule this year is terrible.

First of all, the elimination of advisory on all days except Monday makes it hard for clubs to meet. Lots of clubs like STEM club and Newspaper club relied on advisory and lunch times to meet last year. Without advisory this year, they are forced to meet after school or try to work around the crazy lunch times. This is hard for many students to do, especially between sports and trying to find rides. 

Advisory also provided a nice time to get any work done in the middle of the day, especially for students who don’t have a study hall. It is hard to get all homework done at home, and the advisory period was a nice built in time to get caught up, talk to teachers and finish homework.

Another problem with the new schedule is the added 10 minutes to class time. Eighty minutes was already a lot, but 90 minutes makes it even harder to focus, especially in block 3 when there are bells going off all the way through the block. 

Lunch times are all messed up too. Going to lunch in the middle of block 3 can be seen as a nice break, but for students who have first and last lunch it is either very early or very late to eat. In addition to that, lunch is supposed to be a social time. It is hard to be social when there is no guarantee that your friends are even in your lunch block. This turns lunch from a fun social time to just overall miserable. Also, it is hard for students in the block 3 study hall to focus when there are constantly other students cycling through the cafeteria, especially with the noise.

Another reason the new schedule is terrible is the inconsistent bell times. Instead of having normal time to remember, you have to remember two different schedules. I find myself constantly asking my friends when the block ends because I just can’t remember the times. Neither can the teachers, and they always have to check their papers to remember. 

I know that there are reasons the administration decided to change the schedule, but this new schedule does not address those problems. You’re not going to stop vaping just by eliminating the one time where students have some sort of freedom. Students are still going to skip class, and honestly I don’t blame those who do with such a long block to sit through. I still see the same amount of students skipping classes, the same amount of students vaping in the bathrooms, but many more who are dissatisfied with the new schedule. 

High school, while of course being a place to learn, should also be an enjoyable time to socialize and have fun. Instead of placing so many restrictions on students, administrators should look to the root causes of problems and try to solve them that way.