Every late August, the rush begins. Whether it be back-to-school shopping for clothes or just making sure you’ve done your summer homework, everyone is hurrying to get themselves ready for the year ahead. At Prep, we came back to some big changes on campus, namely, the new block schedule.

The new schedule allows students and teachers more time to gain more valuable learning and also more collaboration. The block schedule is now every week on Wednesdays and Thursdays, as opposed to about once a month like it was last year. According to this summer’s PrepTalk, the new schedule will allow for more community block periods which will be divided into two community blocks per month for, “assemblies and other required curricular events.” The other two will have no required events and will be left open for students to determine what they need to accomplish in that 77-minute period.

Regarding the new schedule, Irene Jang ’20 said, “It gives me more time to plan and execute future extracurriculars, as well as to go to work on projects and do homework.” She added, “This new schedule allows me to get more involved with my teachers, especially if I need after school help.” John Lytle ’19 also discussed the benefits of having more time, saying, “I get a lot more time to do homework because it is spaced out between the two days [Wednesday and Thursday].” This theme was echoed by many since having a 77-minute free period as opposed to a 43-minute class allows for more time spent planning and scheduling future activities. It is also a great way to collaborate with other students or teachers.

In contrast, however, some students are looking forward to the prospect of the block schedule being improved upon. Charlotte Stipanov ’21 states, “A subject like math can be hard to fill 77 minutes with because teaching a whole math subject in a period that long can be difficult and hard to sit through.” Gage Detchemendy ’20 agrees, noting, “[Because of the extended class periods], teachers will sometimes end class with twenty minutes left because they have finished the lesson already.” If some students are hesitant about the new class schedules, they are hoping that the kinks will work themselves out as we progress throughout the year.

As the weeks progress, the back-to-school scramble will start to subside. We will become used to the routine: school, sports, extracurriculars, homework and many more. This year at Prep, the new norm will be block schedules, and only time will tell if it is the right move for the Prep community.