This September, the Upper School has made significant modifications to the six-day schedule, redefining the structure of academic days. To make room for newly implemented five-minute passing periods, the reconstructed routine shortens class periods from one hour to 55 minutes while introducing a designated 15-minute break between second period and community time. Additionally, the structure of community time differs slightly from previous years’ schedules as assemblies have shifted from Day 3 to Day 4, and club time is split between thirty minutes on Day 2 and one hour on Day 6.
While these adjustments may seem minor on paper, they are designed to improve our daily campus experience. The addition of the five-minute passing period directly addresses previous ambiguity regarding classes’ start and end times by establishing hard starts.
Additionally, the morning break was lengthened in direct response to feedback regarding the previous lack of downtime between periods. Upper School Director José Melgoza, who helped spearhead these efforts, shared, “We’re always listening to feedback, and one of the big pieces of feedback that we’ve been hearing for a few years is a lack of a dedicated break time and clear guidance as to when classes start. In the past, we’ve done a soft start and end, which can be a little confusing for folks.”
Early feedback suggests that the changes are already paying off, with both faculty and students reporting a noticeable improvement in campus morale.
“It’s nice to have a little bit of extra time between classes. It helps clarify attendance, which is helpful too,” noted Upper School History Teacher Samuel Anderson.
Junior Kylie Cameron remarked, “There wasn’t any time between classes last year, so I was always marked tardy. My attendance record has been a lot better this year because they give us five minutes in between classes.”
In contrast to the positive response to passing periods and morning breaks, the newly structured community time raised concerns among some club leaders due to the decrease in available meeting time.
Junior Kalea Plotnick, a president of the Math Club, noted, “I liked the schedule from my freshman year the most because we had two dedicated club times, each an hour. Now, we only have one that’s an hour long and one that’s thirty minutes. I don’t think that’s enough time for clubs to meet and get things done.”
As the school year progresses, our community will continue to discover how this new rhythm affects the productivity of student organizations and the overall balance of academic routine.
