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Last Monday and Thursday, the upper school administration piloted a shifted schedule in an effort to decrease the length and wait times of lunch lines. By shortening the 10-minute passing period between the second block and early lunch/periods 3 and 7 early, the middle block and lunch shifted five minutes earlier than usual. This change also added five minutes to X-Period.
Senior Anja Seifert, who always has late lunch, felt that the schedule change did not affect the wait time because of its current inconsistency. “I think that the effects of the five-minute change … have either been unnoticeable because the cafeteria staff still let us in at the old time, or temporary because people are still coming to lunch late,” she said. “Personally, I haven’t seen a difference and I liked having the ten-minute passing period more.”
Because the new schedule was only piloted for two days last week, Dean of Students Stacy Tepp explained that student feedback would be appreciated for determining future changes. “I watched the lines on Monday and timed [them] to see how long it took lines to go through and it was a little shorter than I’ve typically seen it,” she said. Although the shift seemed to have a positive effect on the lunch lines, Tepp explained that it would be helpful to know if students felt the change made a significant difference, and also if the increased X-Period time felt valuable.
We need to confirm that this is okay long-term with middle school administration.
— Stacy Tepp
Additionally, communication between the different branches of administration would be necessary to make the schedule change consistent in the future. “I think it still needs to be approved because [second lunch] overlaps a little more with middle school lunch … because of moving it up. We need to confirm that this is okay long-term with middle school administration,” Tepp said. The administration will continue engaging in conversations about the potential lunch shift along with the entirely new schedule introduced at the beginning of the year. The middle block and lunch period will also shift five minutes earlier for the duration of this week.
