With the start of a new school year, there is now a new homeroom schedule that has received various responses amongst the student body. With these various responses prompts many questions: Is the new schedule truly more beneficial for the students? Does the new homeroom really build a bigger sense of community? and do the extra five minutes of lunch really have a positive impact?

This year, homeroom has been switched to Wednesdays and Thursdays only. This means that every Monday, Tuesday, and Friday students are left with no break in between first and second hour. As a replacement, students now have an extra five minutes added to their lunch period. Along with this, on all non-event block days, the homeroom is now in-between 4th and 6th hour, rather than right after 2nd hour. 

As a staff, we truly miss the daily homeroom that we once had, and not just because we are an activity homeroom. Ever since seventh grade, homeroom has been a time to build camaraderie and complete important tasks such as doing our homework, studying for tests, going to the bathroom, and printing papers without missing class time.

Along with this, homeroom served as a nice break from the stress of our daily school lives. We could use the time to get a snack, talk with our peers, or just relax and do absolutely nothing. 

With many new students pouring into BSM every year, having a place to build a community is a necessity. One concern with the reduction of homeroom is that new students, especially the freshmen, may find it harder to build strong relationships with students when they only get the chance to spend time with their homeroom twice a week or, if there is an event block day, just once.

The new schedule also gives students an extended lunch period, which isn’t necessary. In previous years, students were given 20 minutes for lunch, and now, they have 25 minutes. This added time is not essential and even ends up giving students too much time at lunch. In fact, students are usually lined up at the door at the end of lunch because they had too much time to eat. 

Everyone knows that breaks are essential when the school day starts. Homeroom every day gave time for teachers and students to take their minds off of school for a little and focus on their personal necessities. 

The new schedule is simply not more beneficial than last year’s. Not only has it been hard to adjust to the new schedule, but the removal of homeroom leaves students with no break to focus on themselves, no time to build a community with one another, and instead only five more minutes of extra time to finish their lunch.