Stratford had a big change this school year. Our class schedule changed pretty drastically. Instead of our signature high school block schedule, we use a version closer to the middle school’s schedule. This has not been a popular change among some students and faculty.

The reason we changed our schedule was because having the same schedules makes it easier for the middle and high school to share spaces in the school and teachers. Also, Mrs. Margaret Brogden and Mrs. Theresa Ferrari took over the middle school as principal and assistant principal. Both divisions having the same schedule help both Mrs. Brogden and Sheriff Ferrari coordinate their shared duties. Also, several faculty members teach both upper school and middle school classes.

But, this is going to change again next year. Stratford has hired a new principal for the middle school so Mrs. Brogden will go back to just the high school. So I see know reason why the high school can’t switch back to our old schedule.

It would be an understatement to say some students are unhappy about the schedule this year. And the seniors are the most infuriated. This schedule change took away the senior’s popular double sleep-in. We now have two 45-minute class periods before break instead of one 70-minute period. They still have a sleep in when their study hall is the first class of the day but it’s only until 9:30 a.m.

High school also changed the start time to the middle school’s which is 8:25. This means home room is from 8:25 to 8:35 and the first class starts at 8:40. Last year, high schools end time changed five minutes later to 3:20, so over the past two years, Stratford has added 10 more minutes to our school day, which I believe is completely unnecessary.

Another change that happened is we lost five minutes of break, so break is only 25 minutes long. I use break almost every day to do homework or study. Break is also a time for students to catch up with their friends and have a snack, so they don’t have to during class. Removing time from our break is almost like inviting students to talk and eat during class.

One thing that stayed the same in the new schedule is fifth period. Fifth period is still at the same time before lunch every day. “The thing that we definitely had to keep in this new schedule was that fifth period,” Mrs. Brogden said. “We have some teachers here who just teach one class and they would never teach if their one class was at a different time every day.”

Another thing that stayed the same is the rotating schedule. Our schedule still rotates, but it’s just not be random. I personally loved the randomness of the old schedule. It gets old having the same classes in the same order every single day. Switching it up put some excitement into the day and allowed students to have a “favorite letter day.”

I honestly cannot find anything positive about this new schedule. It seems as if we are just losing things and not gaining anything. I personally love having a double period. Most of my teachers scheduled their tests, presentations, and labs on doubles and having that extra time was so valuable. Having doubles also helps teachers get a class caught up that might be behind all the other classes.