WS is no stranger to new bell schedules.
In the past four years, the schedule hasn’t
stayed the same once. But this year’s changes
might be dramatic, even by our standards.
The first change is one that Principal
Mark Greenfelder knew he wanted to make
within a few weeks of coming here last year.
“I would say I wanted to change the bell
schedule after a few weeks of observing and
seeing how crowded the cafeteria was,” said
Greenfelder, “[One of] the main problems I
wanted to address was changing the number
of lunches from three to four.”
Last year, lunch was so overcrowded
that kids were allowed to eat in the hallways
outside the cafeteria entrance. An additional
lunch was added this year so everyone could
eat in the cafeteria. However, some students
are unhappy with this change, complaining
that the cafeteria is more crowded than ever
now that students can’t eat in the hallway.
“The cafeteria is really crowded. I don’t
think [kids in the hall] was really a problem
in the first place,” said sophomore Kerrigan
Strong.
Other students miss the old system for different
reasons.
“I miss the three-lunch system, because
there’s less people in the cafeteria, so
there’s less chance you’ll be set up with your
friends,” said senior Sergio Lozano.
Of course, the lunch schedule wasn’t the
only thing to change. School now starts at
7:20 on most school days. This is a change
that the county made for all schools.
“My preference was to add 10 minutes at
the end of the day, but the county made all
start times 7:20, unfortunately,” said Greenfelder.
Although school starts a full 10 minutes
earlier, most students haven’t felt all that affected
by the change.
“I don’t see the difference. I didn’t even
notice we were coming at 7:20,” said Lozano
Even students coming from Irving–where
school starts at 7:50 every morning–didn’t
necessarily feel a big shock.
“It’s normal, it doesn’t really seem that
different,” said freshman Andrew Kobylski.
Of course the biggest–and in most kids’
opinion, the best–change to the bell schedule
is the late opening on Wednesdays. School
starts at 8 a.m., giving students a full 40 more
minutes to sleep, catch up on homework
or work together on group projects before
school starts.
“The main [reason for the late opening]
was two-fold. I wanted to give teachers time
to collaborate,” said Greenfelder, “but I also
wanted to give kids a chance to wake up later,
or to work together before school, since
they’re so overloaded after school.”
Most students appreciate the later start.
“I’m pretty happy about starting later [on
Wednesdays]… starting at eight is a big improvement,”
said Lozano.
Bus riders, however, are less excited, because
the buses still arrive at the same time as
they would on any other day. This is because
those buses must take kids to other schools.
“I have no control over the bus schedule,
it’s just too complex to change” said Greenfelder,
“However, I do support it because it
gives kids a chance to work together before
school.”
Of course, now that the bell schedule has
been revamped yet again, a question many
students are asking is “Will it change again
next year?”
“We’ll evaluate at the end of the year,
[and] see if we can fine tune it,” said Greenfelder.