The new school year has brought with it many changes, one of the most prominent being a new and possibly improved schedule. This schedule follows a block format in which students go to seven classes Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, and then only go to four on Wednesday and Thursday. This class organization has certainly shaken up the school year and taken some students by surprise.
“When I first saw the schedule, I was a bit confused why they were just doing a half block and not fully one schedule or the other,” said Ben Toshi (‘26).
As the schedule started to be enforced at Chamblee, students came face to face with only having certain classes on certain days.
“It makes me feel sad because I can’t have my comfort class some days so then there’s no relief for the whole day,” said Lauren Brenner (‘24).
Other students understand this feeling, longing for consistency during their school days.
“I like having my classes, every class, every day,” said Madeline Harron (‘26).
The vibe of each day changes depending on which classes students have. Every schedule is different, and with each class comes a unique atmosphere.
“The schedule makes certain days better than others, but I really don’t care that much,” said Heller.
The confusion around the different days was an unlucky side effect of the block format, it was only meant to give students more learning time in their classes.
“It makes a day feel shorter and it lets more like class time in so you can be more productive,” said Toshi.
Along with the longer class periods on Wednesday and Thursday, the schedule also added an additional period of Bulldog Time, a study period for all students.
“I like [the schedule] because it gives you some extra time to complete work, like two hours for study hall which is nice,” said Dorsey Richardson (‘25).
Bulldog Time was shorter in recent years, so while the concept isn’t new, the plethora of time available is.
“Having a longer Bulldog Time gives me time to catch up on other things,” said Emma Harron (’26).
While this study hall period has been helpful so far, too much free time could become an issue.
“I hate the block schedule, I’m sitting in my classes for two hours and I don’t think it’s gonna help anybody learn more,” said Harron.
There is also something to be said about students spending longer periods of time together on certain days.
“I hate being stuck with the same people for over 50 minutes,” said Brenner.
This same thing could also be said for teachers.
“I think that teachers will start to like to give up because they don’t want to be there for that long [with us either],” said Richardson.
On top of the social aspect, longer class periods mean a greater opportunity for boredom- a constant issue high schoolers seem to face.
“I don’t like the long periods because it’s too long to be in one class for an hour and a half, “ said Luke Williams (‘24), “ I would much rather have each class every day for an hour because I get bored of each class and I do it for too long.”
The new timing of the classes have also placed a time burden on the teachers as many are not accustomed to more than 50 minutes to teach.
“The teachers at the school may not be prepared enough to fill the time slot, so I think that midway through the year we’ll just be sitting in class for 30 minutes doing nothing because they don’t know how to fill the time,” said Siena Lizcano (‘24).
Some students, unfortunately, have already experienced this.
“I feel like at the end of a lot of the classes that have l you’re just kind of doing nothing. It’s a waste of time,” said Heller.
These effects are not only felt by students with regular schedules, but also even more so by ones with different routines.
“If I didn’t do dual, I would come to the school at the same time every day,” said Williams, “It just is more confusing that you have to be here at a different time each day.”
That being said, if any student does miss school, four classes are easier to catch up on than seven.
“It’s gonna be better for people who miss school, but it’s not gonna be better for everyone else,” said Heller.
Luckily, most students seem to be managing the schedule change pretty well.
“I’ll probably be adjusted after the first month. It’s just very confusing, you know, what class I go to and what lunch,” said Harron.
Some students have even already subconsciously memorized the new times.
“I’ve adjusted pretty good, it’s just an inconvenience,” said Williams.
Hopefully, the rest of the students will get the hang of it soon.
“I feel like in March,” said Heller, “I’m still going to be going to my first period on Thursday, so it’s going to be a while.”
