Some students want a longer brunch period, while others prefer a longer lunch. Some complain of long class periods but lambaste the 45-minute periods on Mondays. Most still covet an early ending time, failing to realize their preferences will never align with those of other students.

The overarching question is: Does the 7-period Monday work?

In truth, I would have been happy with a wide variety of schedules, grateful to return to school after more than a year in quarantine. To have a daily schedule that I can complete in-person is refreshing, and so is having healthier relations with teachers, other students and notably, with the classes themselves. 

This year, the bell schedule does not have to change — the attitude of students and teachers does.

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Rotating 90-minute classes on Mondays, the replacement for this year’s schedule most students want, means they would have to start their day guns blazing right after the weekend, prepared for any assessment and ready to learn in all four classes for more than an hour. A nightmare to keep track of, this variation of the schedule does not allow students to ease into the week, and would leave me, a freshman when the schedule was reimplemented, exhausted by Friday. This exhaust would then trickle into my weekend, leaving me unprepared for the working time crucial to being ready for Mondays. 

This year, the bell schedule does not have to change — the attitude of students and teachers does. Every schedule has been and will be griped about, and not one will satisfy all PAUSD officials, students and staff, meaning we as students and teachers need to refashion our approach.

School hours are the most crucial learning hours in the day and should be used efficiently.

Students continue to use the same hackneyed complaint that with periods so short, they have time to do nothing.

This exposes a flaw in our thinking and organizational skills: With no management and questions to ask teachers, of course, nothing will be achieved. 

Students have plenty to use to their advantage, as assignments and assessments cannot be due, and should approach the day with a more positive mindset. With this, they can adapt to shorter periods, implementing a focus that can conserve their energy for all periods but allows them to discern their readiness for the week ahead.

School hours are the most crucial learning hours in the day and should be used efficiently. So let’s stop wasting our time, set aside our complaints and make some small changes of our own to improve our educational success.