This year Morgan adopted a new schedule which saw the removal of “block” days and the addition of a rotating four-day schedule. Students and staff alike share mixed feelings about the new schedule.
The new schedule consists of four different “Days,” which rotate through the week. Each “Day” six of the eight class periods meet, with a different period dropping from the morning and afternoon. For example, on “Day 1” D period and H period drop from the schedule. On “Day 2” C period and G period drop from the schedule, and so on. With only four different days, one day repeats, meaning whatever “Day” is on a Monday will also be on a Friday.
When asked about the new schedule, the same feelings were frequently portrayed by Morgan seniors. “The schedule is very confusing and hard to follow,” senior Ainsley Corgan shared. Another senior, Liliana Torres, stated her concern for the different lunch periods everyday by communicating her experience from the first week of school. She explained how “one teacher told me to go to the wrong lunch by accident, making some of us miss half the class”.
The ability for students to have a different lunch wave every day is a main concern for Morgan students. Sophomore Abby Stack said, “I don’t ever know when I’m going to lunch or who I’m sitting with.” While the change for most seniors is difficult, some upper classmen found that having “H” period study, often combined with 3rd lunch, allowed them to leave earlier and more frequently than in years past. Some days, students can leave as early as 12:40 p.m., which is a contributing factor to some seniors’ positive feeling of the schedule. The freshmen seem to be more receptive to the schedule overall.
Freshman Gretchen Guelke states, “at first it was a little confusing, but I got used to it quickly.” A majority of the freshmen agreed that, overtime, the schedule was easy to adapt to. With the absence of knowledge regarding how the old block schedule felt, the freshmen have nothing to compare the new rotating schedule to. Some freshmen, including Emma Turner, expressed how she is adapting well and that over time she believes all the confusion will withdraw. However, the lunch waves continue to come into conversation. Emma included how she would rather have lunch at the same time everyday instead of changing lunch waves.
The staff of Morgan shared a different perspective on the schedule change. Mathematics teacher Julien Milcent mentioned the difficulties of having different classes on each day. He said, “Looking at a long term plan, tests are going to be difficult to have on the same day for each class.” He also wanted to express his concern of dishonesty regarding students discussing test content between classes. On the other hand, Social Studies teacher Diana Rizzo did not feel there would be a large change in test integrity. She felt that with the old schedule test security was still an issue, as students were able to converse about the content immediately after the test, between classes: “If anything, it was worse before because the test was fresh on your mind.”
