As we all know, there is going to be a new schedule implemented next year. After some brewing time, and countless talks from people all over the school, the buzz about the new schedule has died down a bit. However, I do not think it should be pushed to the back burner; it is something that needs to be talked about.

We have been told that parental purposes (trying to schedule things during the day when their children are free) and the sake of overall convenience are the main reasons as to why there is a new schedule. But in all honesty, these reasons are contradicted by the actual schedule itself.

The schedule seems fast. Three out of the five days all bells meet, which in theory is not bad. I think that having these days on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday do not make a lot of sense, specifically on Tuesday. It would make much more sense to have a day like that on Wednesday, very similar to our old schedule from when we came back after being online. Having two days of all bells meeting back-to-back seems exhausting. I know many people are stressed and completely overwhelmed on the nights before day 1 and day 4 now. It seems to be counteractive to the problem many students are facing. Having a break between all classes, like having Wednesday’s and Thursday’s schedule being mixed in there, make the most sense in terms of time and having students not be completely overwhelmed all the time.

In order to fix this time solution, one department a week is giving up its class time on Tuesday to have a study hall. I think this is a path to finding the right solution, but one that just feels that it was made up on a whim. I know now that people are already complaining about having too little time between when classes meet to have a consistent working schedule, but that same problem will arise in the department each week. If you have C bell as your study hall one week, you still will not have that actual class until Thursday. Just as it is now, there is an awkward gap between when you have classes.

Another thing to discuss is office hours. This year the Upper School has been testing out office hours, how well they work in the schedule, and how effective they are. Now, speaking to a couple of different people, they have said that the majority of the time office hours are a waste of their time, and I would have to agree with them. The idea of office hours is there, yet the execution is not. Going to a teacher during these times is practically pointless, as everybody else has the same idea. You can barely get a time to talk with the teacher one on one and ask them specific questions, which is what office hours are there for; they are a time to go to your teacher to ask questions if you happen to not share a free bell with them. However, if so many other students are going to them (especially when teachers teach a variety of classes), it can be hard to find the help you are looking for. Now, this was only the experience of myself and several other students I talked to this year, so it might look different next year, but this still is a problem that needs to be talked about.

The short passing periods are also definitely a problem. Similar to days 1 and 4 now, many of the passing periods are only 3 minutes. This seems like it would be a reasonable time to get from class to class, but as I have observed and as I have experienced, it is quite difficult. People are always coming into class a minute or two after the bell rings. Coming from downstairs in the science rooms, trying to get through the crowd of people, and be in your seat ready to go in 3 minutes is nearly impossible. Now think of all the times a teacher has kept you just a minute or 30 seconds after the bell to finish one thing. Imagine trying to get to your next class with just two minutes to spare. There is not enough time to stop in the commons and talk to your friends about anything (as we all love to do).

That is a common theme with the new schedule: there is not enough time. Looking at the layout just makes me feel rushed, and I can only imagine that it does the same to other people. Now, everything I have said has just been based off of looking at the schedule, not by living it. Perhaps all the problems will be solved after going through a month of the new schedule, but perhaps some might still exist. We will not know until next school year. But for now, we can only make comments on how the future might be. We cannot do anything until we have experienced the problems ourselves. So please, take everything I have said in this article with a grain of salt (especially since it is coming from a rising senior who was hoping for her 70 minutes of time to leave the school).