On the abrupt morning of August 22, Jrs. Drew Rothstein and Zach Jongekryg trudged to their seminar with anger and frustration at every step. Mad to be back, Jongkryg said, “I kicked a table as I swore underneath my breath.” Rothstein said, “I don’t like that we are back… and end the same day… I would rather be sleeping… and not waking up at six in the morning.” Students missed out on the typically granted extra week off during the end of summer. Students do not enjoy being at school earlier than before.
In light of this frustration, when it comes to the new schedule, the first and most eye-catching change is the early school start. Instructor Emma Jacobson said, “I was a little bit bummed about coming back so soon, and the first day back was my birthday, so that made me a little sad too.”
Jr. Kyler Comment said, “My least favorite part is that we start school early. I’m a big believer that your summer is from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and I think that’s what we need to do.” Soph. Abel Annaya said, “I wasn’t happy about it. We lost a week of summer. We could have been hanging out at home doing more stuff, having more fun.” With school starting on the 22nd of August, it’s pretty clear why many were displeased.
Another change West Ottawa put in place is the Wednesday half-days. With half-days being on Fridays last school year, many were compelled to skip. To stop this, West Ottawa took matters into its own hands and placed half days on Wednesdays where students will feel less compelled to skip. However, this change has brought resentment amongst students, making them feel like their longer weekends were unfairly taken away from them.
Soph. Brody Sayrath said, “I didn’t really like it because Wednesdays are on a half day.” Anaya said, “The Wednesday half days kind of don’t make sense.” With these new changes in mind, many students and faculty were not thrilled with the start of the school year.
On the other hand, although the early start was extremely difficult for most, there are many overlooked and unseen perks and positives to the new schedule. The original unpleasant feeling morphs into the true realities of the new schedule, which turns out to be quite rewarding.
Here are all of the changes to the new schedule. Half-days are now on Wednesdays and also on exam days. Mid-winter break includes three days off, creating a five-day weekend. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a school holiday this year, and the school year started on August 22nd, earlier than last year’s August 30th start.
In comparison, during the 2023-2024 school year, students had 10 half-days and 6 full days off. In contrast, this year introduces 16 half-days, including 6 designated as exam half-days, and 7 full days off. A lot is unveiled when diving into the changes that were made.
After sharing this information with students and teachers, some opinions drastically changed. Comment even said, “Man, this is nice. Yeah, we have the new half days on exam days. I love it. Like the rest of the days after exams, I would just be like tired the rest of the day, and I just wanted to go home and rest, and I would just spend the rest of the day in school basically doing nothing when I could go home, get some rest, and actually study. Because I’m already worn out from the day, but then I still have a little bit of energy to do that. So I do. I really like the half days on exam days.”
Jacobson, pleased with the format provided for teachers, said, “I also was excited to hear about the Wednesday half days because I think that will work out better with attendance. I think my actual favorite is that we are going to have our little mid-winter break in February from the 6th-10th, which will be very nice. For teachers sake, we get the day after conferences off, like for fall conferences and spring conferences, and that Friday was always really tough because we would be here till 8 p.m. on the Thursday before, and now we don’t have to come, so I love that.” Many have become pleased with the fresh format.
Looking back, there was frustration with the new school schedule, especially its abrupt beginning. What began as a tough adjustment has evolved into a more engaging and positive environment. The more frequent breaks will rejuvenate students and teachers. Many are happy with the changes after all.
Check out the new schedule here: https://www.westottawa.net/calendars/west-ottawa-high-school/
