The school schedule. Not a very thought-provoking topic for many of you, right? Most would stray from words such as enticing or alluring when considering the subject at hand. This is a case in which I don’t disagree. How could I disagree, really? Truthfully it doesn’t matter which way you cut the cake, it always tastes the same. It doesn’t matter how you put it; the terms “school” and “schedule” together only work to further feelings of anxiety. 

However, the interest level of this issue is hardly relevant. Do you remember that survey that was distributed to the student body during midterms week? Well, even if the answer is yes, I’m going to pretend it’s no, so allow me to remind you. The one with questions such as, “Which statement best describes your opinion on the current 80-minute period structure?” and answer options like, “too long,” “too short,” and “just right.” Well, I wanted to know if our answers were truly being taken into consideration and get a fresh perspective on the whole situation. 

With all of this in mind, I interviewed one of our esteemed Assistant Principals, Dr. Trudell, about any thoughts he might have. One opinion he did voice was this: “I think a sixty-minute block of time might be a better medium. You used to have a forty five-minute block where it was eight times a day to an eighty minute block — which is a big difference.” While this point is respectable, and I can understand the intent, I’m unsure of where to stand. Personally, I feel 80 minutes is a sufficient amount of time. I appreciate the block of advisory it allows for and the fact that it rotates our classes every other day. I know myself, along with other students, would really rather not be doing homework for every class each night. 

Another point made by Dr. Trudell was about the advisory block. He said, “it brings on disciplinary challenges.” He mentioned some possible alternatives, such as the  idea of having a larger number of smaller lunch blocks, which would decrease the cafeteria crowd and long lunch lines that seem to spontaneously appear. 

And again, while I don’t necessarily consider myself swayed on a change in the schedule, I now see that there is a matching pro to each con depending on the view you choose to align yourself with.