Since the current minds of past and present Chapin High students can remember, school has always been the same routine. Wake up early, get dressed, and head to school to beat the 8 o’clock bell to begin the monotonous day of work. For 7 hours a day, 5 days a week, and 36 weeks out of every year, students attend these federally funded schooling institutions. However, these constants of routine are starting to come into question, and changes are on the horizon for the world of academia.
Recent rumors have been surfacing regarding potential changes in the school day on many levels of possibility. Whether or not any changes come about, it is very interesting to examine the untraditional forms that the public school system of Chapin could be heading toward.
Two times will be etched in the minds of Chapin students until the day they kick the bucket, and those are 7:55 am & 3:10 pm. Never questioned, never changed. But…why these times? Imagine if school started at 9:05 am during the days that the federal schooling system formed, creating a tradition that would allow late days to occur 5 days a week. What teenager wouldn’t vote for the possibility of being able to sleep in nearly every single day? Or even imagine if school lasted from 7 am until noon, and students were released for the rest of the day, as is the tradition of many foreign countries. The possibilities are endless, the idea and reality of school times are beginning to slowly change completely.
Throughout America, many schools are beginning to institute 4 day weeks rather than the traditional 5-day week with a 2 day weekend. Such a proposal would save the schooling systems thousands and possibly even millions when you account for meals, employees, transportation, and electricity. Along with this saving of money, schools are able to accomplish the same course curriculums in less days. Since the nation is committed to federalism, why not treat schools as a form of business, trying to be as efficient and productive as possible.
Other than the shift of traditional lengths and times, thoughts have been geared toward the possibility of changing the typical “A-B Day” schedule of Chapin High into an 8-block schedule. This proposed schedule would create 45 minute classes that would occur everyday, eliminating the “every-other-day” factor and significantly decreasing the time of each class period. Students would be able to remain in the same routine literally everyday, and student-teacher interactions would occur twice as often. There are pros and cons to both systems, but both ideas are beneficial in their own ways.
As a senior, any changes in Chapin High School will not affect me, so I will attempt to create my desired schooling system. First, the start time would vary every day of the week. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays would be the “late days”, starting at 9 am and ending at 4 pm. Tuesdays and Thursdays would be “early days”, starting at 7 am, but ending at 2 pm. This system would also be a cross-over between the A-B and 8 block schedule, creating six 60 minute classes every other day. This would help bridge the gap between issues of AP classes that are double blocked, while also allowing students to change up their studies by allowing them to focus on subjects every other day. Unfortunately, there will never be a Melvin High School. Instead, there is Chapin.
