On January 19th, Holyoke High North Campus introduced a new schedule for remote learning students. Since our school year began in September of 2020, we’ve been using a shorter version of our schedule. It was from 8:45 AM to 12:50 PM, with A and B day that determined which 4 classes you’ll have that day. But this new schedule is much longer, starting from 9:00 AM all the way to 3:00 PM, with Wednesdays still having the short schedule. Now this is a pretty big change to say the least, and even though we’ve had it for a couple weeks now, it still feels a bit strange. I’ll be explaining from a student’s point of view, just how this new schedule feels, starting with some of the good things that come with this new change. 

While the shorter schedule was much more flexible, some people genuinely just needed more time in class. There were teachers who never had enough time to teach their lessons, and students who needed extra time to apply what they learned. This new schedule fixed that, giving that extra time to those who really needed it. Not to mention, if a lesson was cut short, that usually meant it was given as homework, so having a longer schedule fixes that too. Overall, this fixes a lot of the problems with the old schedule, but in return, it brought some new ones as well. 

While some classes needed the extra time, some really didn’t, leading to a long dragged out class. Then, there are some students who have other responsibilities besides schools. They used the extra free time that the shorter schedule provided to handle those responsibilities, but now, they can’t use that time at all. Students can’t leave the class early, even if there’s nothing left for them to do. Personally, I think if a student finishes their lessons for the day, they should be able to leave the zoom meeting early. That way they can get back to their other responsibilities, or just take a break to relax during this crazy pandemic. 

So in conclusion, this new long schedule is a very weird change. I can see how they wanted to make the schedule be like regular school, but it really just doesn’t work the same for remote learning. I’m more than happy that people who need more time finally have it, but it’s also a big hindrance for others. There are students with dual enrollment, who now struggle to balance that with the extra two hours of zoom meetings. As a student, I can see why the change was made to help some people, But in my opinion, they shouldn’t have to make the extra time mandatory, because that just adds more stress to an already stressful time.