One of the big changes for this school year is that students were given five minutes to get to class instead of six. The decision has impacted students in both positive and negative ways. However, despite the negatives, having less time to get to class has proven to be a good thing.

The change in time between classes was driven behind two ideas. The first reason is to have a longer lunch period. As opposed to last school year, students now have a 60 minute lunch break instead of a 48 minute lunch break. Having a 60-minute lunch is one of the best changes that could have been made to the schedule. Due to G-square being five minutes away, a good portion of the student body regularly goes there to purchase lunch because of the extra time students now have during lunch. With so many students come long lines, lines that can take up to 15 minutes or more depending on the day. With a regular 48 minutes lunch, you could lose over half of your time buying food before being able to return to the building. However, the new one hour lunch period allows us to calmly buy food and have time to eat in the building.

Apart from the extra time that can be used for eating, the longer lunch also allows us to take retakes or make ups. This can make a big difference because it can allow students that take retakes during lunch to also have time to eat afterwards.

However, there are also some negative consequences to be addressed. With less time to get to class, it is much easier to be tardy. Being late repeatedly can result in punishments stemming from notifying parents to detentions with each individual teacher. Arriving late to class can often be avoided by walking fast and not talking with friends, but despite this it is still common for students to arrive late. It takes approximately four minutes to get from one side of the building to the other. With five minutes to get to class and overcrowded hallways, many students struggle to get to class in a timely manner. It’s a bit illogical to punish students for being late but the shortening of time between classes also makes it easier for students to arrive class tardy.

Regardless, five minutes is generally enough time to be on time to class. Losing one minute of passing periods but gaining 12 minutes of lunch is a good thing. The longer lunch period students gain outweighs the negative consequences of having less time to go to class.