The new 5-drop-2 schedule was unanimously decided on Monday, March 15, 2021, by the School Committee to be the schedule for the rest of the 2020-2021 school year.  This schedule will overall be a good change for all students, especially freshmen. The new schedule will be implemented on the return of school, April 26.

The new schedule was implemented because it helps students transition easier from a three-class-per-day schedule to a five-class-per-day schedule. If the students were to go from three classes per day to six classes per day, especially close to the end of the school year, it would be difficult and take some time to adjust, which there might not be. Transitioning from three classes per day to five classes per day is easier than transitioning from three classes per day to six classes per day because there are only two more classes in the day, instead of three.

Although, transitioning from an original six classes day schedule to five classes per day schedule might be difficult for upperclassmen since they are used to six classes per day rather than five classes per day. Upperclassmen might take more time adjusting to the schedule, which can cause an impact on grades.

For most students, six classes a day was a lot, which caused a lot of stress because of the homework and time required to pay attention. Now, students only have to do the homework and pay attention for five classes a day, which decreases their time spent on homework, and more time to do other activities. 

With this new schedule, I will have less work to do every day and more time to focus on the things that I love, which can be the same for other students. Instead of six difficult classes a day, I only have to attend five classes a day, which decreases my workload, which is better for my mental and physical health. Mental and physical health are extremely important, especially during the pandemic, and the new schedule can help students stay healthy mentally and physically.

For freshmen like myself, we have not been introduced to the rigorous six classes per day schedule of a normal high school year. Instead, we started off our high school experience with three classes a day, in the hybrid/remote model. Going back to school with five classes a day would make an easier transition than having to go back to school with six classes a day.

Especially for freshmen, we never got to finish our eighth-grade year properly, causing us to not be as prepared as we should be for high school. This new schedule will help us transition easier into high school since it is not as rigorous as the previous six drop one schedule.

Students also can experience an easier transition with of the new schedule since they do not have to rush to classes because they have longer passing times. 

The new schedule allows there to be fewer classes per day, so there is more passing time. Before this schedule, there were six classes per day, and the passing time was only five minutes. Now, the schedule only has five classes per day, allowing there to be nine minutes of passing time in between each period.

This year, there were only three classes a day, which gave students a lot more learning time in each class per day than the six drop one schedule. Students get ninety minutes a day of learning time for each class in the hybrid/remote model, opposed to the sixty minutes a day for each class in the five drop two schedule. The five classes per day schedule will take some time away from each class compared to the hybrid remote model because there will only be 60 minutes per class every day rather than 90 minutes per class in a day.

There are many differences between the six classes per day schedule to the five classes per day schedule, such as a flexible 69-minute block.

There is also a flexible schedule component built into the schedule, with the last block of the day which is 70 minutes. Students would still be in a structured learning environment, but if they had to leave early for a doctors appointment, for example, their class time would not be interrupted. This flex block also has the potential to become a study hall period, where students could have time to work on assignments and ask the teacher questions, depending on the teacher’s plans.

Some students might not use this flex block time wisely, but they cannot account for the whole class, as students can take advantage of this time to finish assignments and work to be proactive in their schoolwork. Even though the flex block is not structured learning time, it is great for students as they get a free DLT without having to use up an elective credit.

This schedule is a lot easier to manage than the previous schedule. I look forward to this schedule being implemented for the future as well as the schedule is used for the April re-opening.

Click here for more information about the April reopening and the new schedule.