Schedule changes made second semester were based on first semester feedback and include longer lunch, modified advisory and one minute less passing time between classes. 

This past semester was the first true in person learning experience for current sophomores and freshmen. As a result, the school initially decided to make time between classes longer than last year. However since ninth and tenth graders have had a semester of in person school under their belt, there are now five minutes between classes instead of six. The extra minute eliminated from between each class went into extending the lunch period second semester by a total of six minutes. 

The reason for extending lunch and taking a minute away from between classes was because of feedback given to ILT (Instructional Leadership Team) from a student and teacher survey. ILT is made up of heads of a series of departments and administrators. Junior class  administrator Nicholas Hitchens said, “There were two major changes made, [one of which is that] time between classes is now five minutes instead of six hose extra minutes went into making lunch longer and there is now one advisory lesson per week instead of two.”

As for concerns and future changes, there are teachers who are a bit concerned with the length of classes and think they should be longer. Also,“ there was discussion about potentially moving the advisory period to after lunch but we would need the summer to have more time to make that decision,” Hitchens said.

The decision regarding advisory was to make the lessons once a week on Wednesdays instead of twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Science teacher Kristen Daughtery said that advisory serves the necessary purpose for students getting work and assessments done without disrupting their lunch. So by having one advisory lesson per week instead of two it allows more time for students to get that extra work or make up assessment done. In addition, having one advisory lesson per week instead of two can improve the quality of the lesson because of the extra planning time allowed. “The change to advisory will benefit teachers and students since they can take advantage of advisory to do makeup work and quizzes,” Daughtery said. 

Ultimately the school decided to make the recent schedule changes in order to satisfy the needs of the students. The extension of lunch was the number one priority for the schedule changes this semester based on the surveys and has received overall positive feedback from students thus far. While advisory allows time to see teachers and get assignments done, lunch is really the only opportunity to socialize with friends. Junior Siraj Sayeed supports the extension of lunch due to both the social and academic benefits. “I like extended lunch, it gives me more time to see teachers and socialize with friends,” Sayeed said.