Longer Classes for More Days
By: Sydney Kyhos
Due to the semester tests, the bell schedule has been altered to make classes longer each day. Thursday, December 9th was the start of the block schedule. Students attended certain classes for longer than normal based on the days.
This year’s block schedule ranged from Thursday, December 9th to Tuesday, December 14. On Thursday, December 9th, 7th period extended from 11:20 to 2:20, occurring right before a school-wide lunch from 10:26 to 11:14. Lunch was school-wide from 10:26 to 11:14 every day that the block schedule occurs. On Friday, December 10, students only attended 1st and 3rd period for 3 hours each. The following Monday there was only a 2nd and a 4th period, and on Tuesday students only attended 5th and 6th period.
Despite having a block schedule for semester finals every year, this schedule was not the same as it usually is. In prior years, blocked classes were extended by 2 hours, and not 3. Also, the schedule is typically 3 days long, compared to the 4 days of this year’s schedule. There is an extra hour allotted to technical difficulties that may arise due to the use of computers in midterms this year. Though some classes don’t use laptops, every class is given three hours for test taking. This time is also intended for students who are given extra time.
Many students have strong opinions on how the block schedule is formatted. Some think that the block schedule should have been made differently, and it was not efficient. “[The block schedule] is too long,” said Freshman Jordan Fischbein. “Sitting down for three hours isn’t healthy in my opinion.” Fischbein isn’t the only one who thinks negatively about the block schedule, Sophomore Yawen Xiao said, “It’s too long, being three hours. I’ve never had a test schedule like this before.”
