Staples High School introduced a completely new weekly and daily schedule for the COVID-19 2020-2021 school year, which has resulted in mixed reactions. This schedule consists of four, 80-minute classes per day, only ever-altering between two different schedules, A and B days, called block scheduling. Recently, it has been announced that Staples will be returning to the previous rotating schedule for the 2021-22 school year and will be leaving the block schedule behind. 

I think that it is the right decision, and will ultimately lead to the beginning of regularity, as well as higher attentiveness in the school setting after a quite strange school year. The long extended periods that have been introduced this year have created many issues for both me and my peers, due to a variety of reasons. 

Switching back to our original schedule is better because it will help with maintaining better attention spans.  Having to maintain alertness and a diligent work ethic for an entire 80 minutes of class time can be extremely difficult. Due to the length of these block classes this year, I have noticed that students seem to tune out and lose interest by the end of the period, leaving the overall learning process to be ineffective and tough. In classes that are 40 minutes, there is just enough time for students to learn different concepts, as well as truly understand and comprehend them. This is because they are able to stay focused for the whole class, and not feel bored or worn out. 

Second, after more than a year has gone by of limited social gatherings, it is important that school continues to maintain the social aspect that it has always had. Due to this, I think it is important for us to have more than four classes a day, to allow for us to see different people in different classes. Being able to see a variety of people in school allows for a more refreshing environment, which is crucial for students to uphold good spirits regarding school because it can result in increased motivation.

Lastly, the repeated order of classes almost every day can get extremely tiring. It is important as we evolve out of a pandemic lifestyle that our school schedule does the same. Having a difference in the schedule on a day-to-day basis provides students with a bit more needed variety

I am more than ready for the old schedule to come back, as I feel the learning environment at Staples will improve exponentially after a hard year.