New Trimester; New Schedule
“We know that changes can be hard, especially when they affect our everyday lives. Throughout this investigation we have learned the complicated process of making this new schedule change, and the opinions of staff and students about this change.”
Starting this school year, there was a schedule change that long-term students took note of. This change consisted of removing study hall, and making students have all of their classes in one day. However, this change hasn’t gone as well as planned, and a new schedule change is speculated to be implemented at the start of Trimester 2.
We want to get insights on this upcoming change and why it has come up now instead of before the school year started. For this we will be interviewing the mastermind behind the brainstorming and decision of this change: Mr. Noah. In order to get opinions from the students to see which schedule they liked more, or worked better for them, we interviewed students who have been in the CSH community for a while to gain their preference of which schedule worked better for them, the current one or old one, and to see what changes they wanted to see in the new schedule.
Last year our time schedules were different because we entered school at 8:50 am and ended at 3:45 pm. Although not a huge change, this can cause some inconvenience to some people. For example, daylight savings time has just recently ended, which means that it will start to get darker outside sooner. Now that students are ending at a later time (even later with check-ins), they have to go home in the dark, which can be stressful, and terrifying for students. Students may not feel safe going home in the dark, because of all of the dangers that surround us in today’s world. Parents may also feel some type of way with their students going home in the dark, but are unable to do something about it, because they can be working, or just unable to do something about it due to being busy.
During our 11th grade year, we had a period called study hall. During this time students were assigned to read a physical book, or to read online. We would read for about 25 minutes and after the 25 minutes ended, the teacher would allow us to do any work that we were assigned, or work that was going to be due soon, but if you have done everything you can continue reading for the next 25 minutes. Not only that, but if students need help with a specific subject they can ask their study hall teacher if you can see that specific teacher and get the help you need. This entire period was very beneficial to students because it allowed students that didn't have time to complete their work at home or in class, to do it in study hall which would help them not to be so overwhelmed by all the work being assigned.
Ever since the schedule changed to the one that we currently have now, which was replacing study hall with reading block, it has caused students to not be able to complete all their work in time. This has been causing them to lose some points on an assignment. Reading block does not allow students to complete any work and instead you have to read for 30 minutes.
The amount of classes we have for the week has also changed. Last year, throughout the week except Wednesday we had 5 periods including electives, and on Wednesday we had 4 classes, but now this year we have all classes in one day and on Wednesday we have 3 classes for an extended period of time. Last year's schedule would be less overwhelming for students, because of the work being easier to manage and complete and not having to soak in so much information in just one day, but ever since this change, it has impacted the students’ mental health as a result of stress building up, leading to students getting lower grades than they should have. Last year's schedule was more beneficial because it allowed students to comprehend the knowledge at their own pace and not cause a burnout so early in the year.
We interviewed Mr Noah to get information on the current schedule. He told us: “We have received plenty of feedback to see that there is a change that has to be made to the schedule, because teachers were saying that there wasn’t enough time to plan, while also saying that the class time feels so short. Students also had input in this process of making the new schedule.”
We followed up with the question: Why has the cascading schedule from last year changed into the one we currently have now? He replied: “The cascading schedule was to solve a specific problem, it had to do with solving the problem of not having advisory in the morning, and we didn’t want to have the same class to be first period, and have kids be late to first period all the time, since last year there was a lot of lateness, and if you had the same class everyday for first period, while also being late to that same class everyday, then students would be missing valuable class time of the same class everyday, which is a guaranteed fail, and cascading schedules solved that problem. Once we moved advisory back in the morning, there wasn't really a need to cascade anymore. We also wanted PSL to occur every period, and it would be hard to do that with a cascading schedule.”
Based on Mr Noah’s answers, we have concluded that this new schedule change was based on feedback received from both staff and students, and that was why we saw a different structured schedule, compared to last year's schedule.
The pending change has been based heavily on teacher and student feedback. To get a perspective from the teacher's side, we’ve interviewed a few teachers and here are their responses to the following questions:
What is your opinion on the schedule?
Ms Fried: “As a teacher, I actually prefer to start earlier. Last year, I think it incentivized more students to actually show up to check ins and actually come to office hours, where now we're getting out so late that kids are actively avoiding it because they want to go home. I miss ending earlier to have more access to do more stuff after school with kids. I also miss the cascading schedule. I know people who struggle with organization were like, no, we don't like it. But I personally liked it because if a kid was late to school, like all the time, they didn't miss the same classes every single day. Now, if a kid is always late during first period, they miss every single first period and it’s the same with the end of day, if they have internships. They were missing the same class all the time and now it's all the same. That's what I miss about that schedule.”
Mr Kesler: “I personally like the current schedule, I feel that this schedule is much easier since its consistency allows students to understand what class they have next. And not making them confused as in last year's schedule, where classes would rotate and this would confuse some students on what class they would they have next period.”
How did you feel about the process of making a new schedule?
Ms Fried: “I like that everybody was involved in some way. I like that they got their ideas and they got feedback from students. They got feedback from teachers, all different levels, like veteran teachers who were here for a really long time, people who taught at different schools, new teachers who are new to teaching. And the same with students — like students who are chronically absent, versus students who you know are always here, or students who have internships. I like that there was feedback from everybody, I think that because we were so siloed in our group, we had like maybe five teachers per group, there were opinions or ideas that other teachers didn't really think about on their end and vice versa, because I know that I noticed things that other teachers may not have. I just wish that we had more whole group discussion. But I do like that people had their opinion and were able to give feedback before they made these changes.”
Mr Kesler: “We had interviews with teachers to talk to us about like, all right, what do you think about the schedule this year? What would you change? What are some suggestions that you would have. So they showed us some examples of some things that they would change beforehand. So we were able to kind of think about it and think through it before we actually had the full conversation about whether we were going to change the schedule or not. I think the planning around it was much more purposeful than it has been in past years. So I'm excited to see, like, you know, the changes, because I feel like there was a lot of planning put into it.”
How do you feel about the students having all of their classes in one day?
Ms Fried: “I have mixed feelings about it. I think it is important to see classes every day, even if it's a touch point. But if you lose one day and you don't see everybody every day, then there's an off chance of you actually losing a class for like two days if you had a day off. I think that was the thing last year, where we only saw classes four days a week. If I didn't see the kids, like, let's say Friday, but they were off on Monday, then I wouldn't see them for a longer period of time. So I think seeing every class every day is important, but I think I have worked at schools where I haven't seen every class everyday, and it's really important that they do their homework, and the kids understand the importance of doing work outside of class, because if you're not seeing kids for a long time and they're not doing the homework, then they're coming back being like, I don't know what's going on, and then you're reteaching it.”
Mr Kesler: “I think that we can work a little smarter instead of harder. I think it is good in a way, to help you keep on track to see all your classes in the same day, and that's how most other schools function, by seeing every single class, every single day. I know that that's not always the same, especially when you go to college, because in college you might see one of your classes for two hours on only two days a week, so only on Mondays and only on Wednesdays. Usually a lot of college classes are like a Monday/Wednesday, or a Tuesday/Thursday class. I do think that the intention is to kind of like to mirror what you would see in the future when you graduate. I do think that's a little beneficial, a little bit beneficial to not have to see every single class. But on the flip side of that, it is a little bit difficult for you all to kind of plan your time and plan things around like what you need to do, especially with homework and studying, and like keeping track of things like exams. If you don't see the same class every day, it's kind of hard because you don't get that same reminder that you're used to seeing every day, especially like if we miss, let's say we're off Monday because it's a holiday and that Monday was a day that you were supposed to see a certain class, then you just miss another day of that class.”
Based on these teachers' responses both have introduced opinions on what school schedule is more effective. Ms. Fried is a lovely teacher who guides students to success and helps students learn crucial skills to critically think, and use their resources in solving problems. And Mr. Kesler is a history teacher that mixes up history with a touch of reality and creates an atmosphere that drives students closely to pay attention by providing entertaining lessons, making learning enjoyable and persuading students to give their best of their efforts. Both of these teachers provided opinions that had some differences but also some similarities.
The current schedule has also heavily influenced student life, so to get a better perspective from the students’ side, we’ve interviewed students to gain further insight, and here are their responses to the following questions:
How do you feel about the change from the old schedule to the current one?
Sameer: “The change I feel like it's actually pretty strong. I feel like, in terms of the way study hall works now and then, the lunch period, it feels a lot different. But I feel like for classes, most of all, it feels the same. But it's just those two things that have really changed.”
Jaroly: “I had a pretty strong feeling because last year's schedule was perfect. We had our academic classes all in one, and then we had electives with just our grade. But now we have a few academic classes, reading blocks, not even study hall anymore, which I feel like isn't as useful to us, as study hall was. Then we have shared Electives with nine and 11th graders and then 10th and 12th graders, which I feel like wasn't so much of a necessary change for us.”
Which schedule did you prefer more? The last year’s or the current one?
Sameer: “Last year, I preferred it more. I feel like we had a lot more lunch time. And I also felt like the study hall wasn't as strict as the reading block. I feel more strict because we can only read compared to where we had half of the period spent reading and in study hall it was half of the period spent doing homework. I felt like having the homework time allowed me to get a lot more of my stuff Done.”
Jaroly: “ The schedule layout from last year is much more preferred than this year's layout. It was just less complicated, especially with the Wednesday schedule. Like how it switches up around like how we'll go like one Wednesday. We have first period, fourth and fifth period. And then next Wednesday we'll have second, third and sixth. But then sometimes electives will rotate around with the elective and cause students with confusion, which is why I prefer the layout from last year.”
Last year we had a period called study Hall but when we transitioned to the new building it was replaced with a reading block. Which one would you prefer and why?
Sameer: “I choose study hall over reading block. Study hall is just a lot better for you to get work done without honesty. Especially for the workload. Now, with all the grades, it's a lot, and it's hard to manage outside of school for most students, so I feel like having that study hall back would make a big difference.”
Jaroly: “I prefer study hall because study hall and reading block were basically the same for the first half which we would be reading. So you're just reading for like 25 minutes and then you get to do homework and stuff like that. And this was helpful and especially now it would have been more useful since we get out at 4:10pm, which means we have less time at home to do work. And like students, they have internships, they have sports and stuff, so they get home even later causing them to have even less time to work on the assignments.”
How do you feel about the days turning into night sooner and leaving school in the dark?
Sameer: “I don't mind going home in the dark, but it's my parents because they want me home at a certain time. Every parent is worried about their kids getting home and especially when it is dark. It would be very sad if something were to happen to someone's child.”
Jaroly: “I'm kind of used to it because I'm constantly getting home late because I get out really late compared to other people. But I feel like for some parents, even though at our age, like we're 17, 18, some parents are still, like, concerned about their child. And it's also unfair to like the freshman because even though, yeah, they're high schoolers now, they're still coming from middle school. And that's going to have parents more concerned over us or over them because they're still like in that mindset of middle schoolers. They haven't matured yet. So they feel fear for their child when it's really dark outside going home.”
How do you feel about the time changes from last year’s schedule to this year’s?
Sameer: “Honestly I don't really feel the change of the time schedule. I feel like the school days are long regardless. It always felt like it was from like 9 a.m. to 4pm. I didn't I didn't really find any differences in time schedule. ”
Jaroly: “I would have preferred the old time schedule simply because we have more time to have sports practice, Internships, etc. This also gave more time to travel to internships and practice so students won't be late. And also, for the people that do like Monroe Sports, in this school year time schedule they have to travel all the way to Monroe. And by the time they get to Monroe, they'll be considered late for practice.”
Both Jaroly Vidal-Diaz, the volleyball coach, and Sameer Mohamed, an award winning Python Post author, are current CSH seniors that have been at CSH since freshman year. Based on their answers, we’ve seen that the schedule change from the cascading schedule to the one we currently have, has had a pretty big impact on long-term students, and we saw that the schedule from last year is more preferred than the current schedule, due to some confusion from the rotating Wednesday schedule.
They both have also said that they would much rather prefer study hall over reading block, since it was much more productive, and students were likely to get their work done in that time. There have also been concerns about how students will be going home in the dark, since school is going to be ending at a later time, compared to last year. Parents can fear for their child going home in the dark, since anything can happen at any time. They had different opinions on the time schedule shift, where Sameer had said that he didn’t feel any difference, while Jaroly was saying how ending at a later time can cause a conflict for after school activities such as sports, or internships.
We know that changes can be hard, especially when they affect our everyday lives. Throughout this investigation we have learned the complicated process of making this new schedule change, and the opinions of staff and students about this change.
And so, we officially can announce the new schedule, starting Trimester 2. As the diagram shows, the new schedule will consist of keeping Wednesday the current Wednesday A schedule and making Thursday the current Wednesday B schedule, which will mean that we will all get 2 half days in the week, instead of 1.
This will allow students to get additional help that they need on any of these half days, so that they don’t have to stay so late after school during a regular schedule day, and can get as much help as they need without staying at the school at a later time.