This year at BHS, students are experiencing a new change in the schedule. This is the first change to the schedule in several years and an odd adjustment for many students. Instead of having just one advisory block, this year there are two separate blocks. Sophomores and freshmen have advisory after first block, while the juniors and seniors have advisory after second block. This new schedule creates much more free time for the students and teachers in the building. The schedule this year allows for breaks after second and first block, whereas last year the schedule had required students to go straight to third block after second. Now, students will have at least one twenty-minute free block where they can take a break from the stress of school every day. Another important change to note is that every class has been shortened by five minutes.
Over the past couple of years many advisories had to double up because they were not enough classrooms to fit every individual advisory. Some advisories had their “classroom” be the library or gym, while other advisories had to fit two separate advisories into one classroom. There was clearly a problem with the number of students and the number of classrooms that were available in the school, so that is why the new schedule was created. The new schedule opens up many classrooms for advisories and ultimately gives everyone in the school more space. Advisories are meant to be a place to connect with a small group of people and now this can finally happen without conjoined advisories and real classrooms for the block. This shows how Bedford High School is growing in the amount of students that attend, and the new schedule is just rearranging to accommodate the number of students at the high school.
The new schedule was a very big and unusual change for many of the students at BHS and it did create confusion at the beginning of the year as to when the blocks ended and where to go. A BHS senior explains how she “kept going to third block directly after second” and that it was “for sure an adjustment.” Although, many different people did find the schedule to be a change for them, many are enjoying the change. BHS sophomore Emma Chisholm says, “I used to not like it because I thought it was kind of chaotic but now I really like it because it’s a good little break in the day.” Another sophomore Molly Stevenson says that “sitting around for twenty-minutes can be boring, but it is nice to have a free block to chill with my friends and not worry about school.” Overall, the change has been a bit confusing, but students are adapting well. Most students enjoy this new time for relaxation during the school day and the new schedule is a positive change here at Bedford High School.
