Yes

By Nami G. ’28

No

By Natalie G. ’28

However, according to the Tatler Poll, 32% of students have an early dismissal every week, with 12% of students having more than one. This can be detrimental to both the students with the absences but also to the classroom community.

Because of the A-B rotation our school has, anyone missing two or three classes a week is essentially missing a full week’s worth of class. This means spending free and activity periods taking tests or reviewing class slideshows instead of working on homework or participating in any of Lakeside’s clubs. Meanwhile, some work is impossible to make-up. For example, History has Harknesses to close off units while other classes have final presentations. If someone needs to miss any of those classes, it’s much harder for teachers to evaluate their work and for them to actively be a part of the class. And while extremely early dismissals with the pilot schedule can lead to a student missing part of the class, it’s only part of it instead of the full period, meaning it’s far more difficult to catch up on work. It’s unfair for students to fall behind in class simply because they participate in a sport while student athletes shouldn’t have to choose between making their game or helping their group in a presentation.

Additionally, the pilot schedule leads to a better school environment. If students consistently miss class for extracurriculars, classes will have lower turnout. While this might not seem like a problem occasionally, when low attendance happens consistently it can lead to less productive class discussions and overall a lesser sense of class community. Meanwhile, it makes group projects almost impossible. Class time is normally the best time to coordinate with groupmates because not everyone has the same free periods or the same availability during ACT. If a groupmate misses a class, it makes it harder for them to participate in the work and means those without the early dismissal can end up with a disproportionate amount of work. 

And though many club leaders testify to there being less club attendance, the pilot schedule is likely not the sole reason for this. Like last year, during spring ACTs more students began hanging out in the field meaning fewer people attending clubs. Additionally, as voiced in Aicha S. ’27’s article on clubs, Lakeside’s sheer number of clubs means less club participation and leads to Lakeside’s lackluster club culture. So while the pilot schedule might mean less people attending clubs, it’s already a problem that existed beforehand. 

As for the broad student dislike of the pilot schedule, that can be linked for the administration’s lack of communication on the issue. Because other than a quick speech in Assembly followed by an email explaining the logistics behind the Pilot Schedule, there wasn’t much highlighting the number of school dismissals that could be averted by the Pilot Schedule and what this could mean for students. With better explanation, the schedule change could seem more appealing to students. 

While other students point out how the schedule change means back-to-back academic classes, this is similar to a student with last period free having a busy morning.

Meanwhile, because the school schedule has been consistent for a few years, it’s harder to adjust to a new schedule in just one month, no matter how beneficial the new schedule is. Currently, we have 89 early dismissals this spring season that are positively impacted by the Pilot Schedule. So whether or not you have early dismissals, it’s undeniable the Pilot Schedule is helping students focus less on catching up in class and more on their academics and extracurriculars.

Timothy D. ’27

Hey Lakeside! I’ve decided to invade yet another Tatler column to provide my two cents on the schedule change. 

Putting aside all of Nami’s points on increasing academic time, I personally like the schedule change for the vibes. When I was in kindergarten, I learned the golden rule of “save the best for last.” During lunch, this means the Kinder Joy is after the celery sticks. During the school day, it means fly through academics and top the day off with some sunny R&R on the field.

Speaking of sunny days, opponents of the change argue that students leaving, say, after advisory, hurts the school community and presence on campus. However, on a beautiful day, students still remain on the field. When it rains, nobody is outside anyways. So is there a huge cost to the community? Perhaps, but it’s not particularly visible.

I’m personally for this change because I like ending the day with fun. The first week when I walked into advisory ready to fall asleep… then realized that I have NO MORE CLASSES!! A breath of fresh air for a belabored junior.

First off, this seemingly small change has made the long school day seem two hours longer. I have an exhausting A day schedule: chemistry A1, English A2, lunch A3, Spanish A4, and math A5. In the old schedule, I would have Activity Period to take a break between Spanish and math. Now, I find myself exhausted and burnt out going into A5 with nothing but a five minute passing period used to rush across campus. Before, I would also use Activity Period to finish up any last-minute homework or studying I needed to do for A5 and B5; now, I need to rush to finish this work the night before.

But this schedule change isn’t just a huge inconvenience. While on the surface, it seems like a saving grace for athletes since they no longer have to miss A5 or B5 class and can just skip over the far less important Activity Period, it has far larger repercussions both individually and in the whole community.

While a student can make up for a class by meeting with their teacher or joining the same class in their free period, the same cannot be said about clubs. If I missed a riveting debate between their club leaders that was meant to prepare me for my next tournament, what should I do? Ask them to reenact it just for me? Or if I missed a video recording session to advertise Lakeside’s annual Model UN Conference, what should I do? Ask the leaders to take down the reel and photoshop a picture of me in the background?

Already, many clubs are struggling to obtain student interest. Aicha S. ’27 summed up the situation with clubs in a Tatler article earlier this year with a powerful ending, writing, “The clubs are here – but the community isn’t.” That warning aged like milk because now, to top it all off, many of the students who were eager to participate in a club can’t go due to sport obligations. On top of this, remember how Mr. Boccuzzi told all students that they had to stay on campus until the school day ended at 3:10? This and the archaic rule that only seniors can leave campus during school are both staunchly ignored by most students. Since Activity Period is at the end of the day, many people who would stay at school because they have A5 or B5 class would rather beat traffic and go home or to their extracurriculars early. Hence, several students have remarked in the Tatler Poll that “as a club leader, it really hurt the attendance of [their] club.”

I do have to admit that this change has significantly decreased the need to miss class, as most early dismissals happen between 2:00 and 2:30. However, many people in the Tatler Poll say that they’re still missing a lot of class because their early dismissals are earlier than 2:00. Also, although I agree that missing class is detrimental to student learning, using Activity Period – the period of time meant for boosting a sense of community – as a scapegoat exacerbates one problem under the pretext of solving another. Again, a class can be made up during a free period or by talking to a teacher, but community time cannot. 

So, while this Pilot Schedule was a great idea, creating new problems in an attempt to fix an old one is just not worth it, especially since most athletes have already built a strong system of coordination with their teachers. I implore the administration that before making any decisions, please survey all students to see what they think because in the Tatler Poll, 48 out of 72 (~67%) voiced their strong dislike of it. Hence, because of the clear overall dissent and the negative impacts this new pilot schedule has on the Lakeside community, this new schedule should stay exactly as it is: just a pilot. 

Timothy D. ’27

Many students have begged Stud Gov to change the schedule back. 

Some cite club attendance. Some cite class chaining (boo for my B day triple academic morning). Some cite missing house assembly. These are all valid concerns.

When it comes to club attendance, Nami raises a fair argument for students ditching clubs or leaving campus regardless of when ACT is; nevertheless, I will confess that opening 30 minutes of nothing at the end of the day has compelled me to impromptu Starbucks runs. Natalie also addresses an important issue of club meetings, which cannot be made up once missedunlike classes, being un-makeupable.

In terms of having classes back to back, I’m tempted to wave this off as bad luck, but like Natalie said, it’s true that having two consecutive classes, especially after lunch, provides a whole new challenge of staying awake (citation: my slumber during Honors Physics). Plus, you can no longer study for fifth period classes during ACT, which is a tragedy in and of itself. 

The root of the change, EDs, is in my opinion, a systemic problem. There’s something to be said about the culture of sports games being scheduled so early that students are required to miss class. A sports team traveling to Bainbridge needing to miss out on two periods makes sense, but consistently early EDs — which aren’t even consistent across sports; football gets disproportionally early EDs compared to say, soccer — seems like disrespect for education.