Wierd Schedules

Why are our schedules so mixed up?

By Josh Falkenstein

Schedules are different every year. They change normally, major changes once over summer, minor changes 3 times a school year to change specialties. The schedules change a lot. Last year, the lunch was hall based. This year, it’s based on grade levels. Why does the schedule have to change repeatedly? “It’s getting annoying”, said an anonymous red 8^th grader. Several people have said they want the schedules in the halls to be grade based and identical to all others, therefore giving each hall the same time for classes. This would make several things possible in halls that weren’t previously possible. Most 8^th graders agree that grade level schedules that are identical would be preferable, as homerooms in grade levels could schedule grade-wide events and parties. I have asked several questions: 1. What would you prefer for a schedule? 2. What do you dislike, if anything, about this current schedule? 3. How do you think your schedule would be better? “I would prefer a grade based schedule. Specialties after lunch and Core 1 and 2 before lunch, Core 3 and homeroom last for all 8^th graders.” “I hate that the 8^th graders all have different schedules in each hall.” “My schedule would be better because all the homerooms could hang out together, like on Fridays.” An anonymous green 8^th grader’s opinion. “Specialties at the end of the day, because it’s harder to function at the beginning of the day.” This brings up the issue of people getting a lack of sleep, though I won’t go into details. People have several opinions, though most would prefer grade-based schedules. “One of our classes is split in half by lunch.” Stated Hunter W, a blue 8 student. “My schedule idea would be better because none of our classes would be split by lunch.” The interference of lunch in a class and it splitting the class is also a common complaint. This brings us to another issue: lunch times. People dislike the fact that there has to be three separate lunches, and that they are categorized by either grade or hall. This year, the schedules were soted out by grade level. “Grade sorting sucks because I can’t see my 8^th grader friends or my 6^th grader friends,” said a 7^th grader. But others complain of hall sorting due to the loss of seeing friends from other halls at lunch. “ I hate hall  based lunches because you don’t see friends from other halls,” said another 6th grader. I guess it’s a good thing the teachers control the schedules, because no matter what, somebody’s going to dislike the plan.