At Benilde St.- Margaret’s, every student has a built-in free hour in their respective schedule. All students must stay on campus and do work except for seniors who get the privilege of leaving. Administrators and counselors do their best to make sure seniors have their free hour either first or last hour to accommodate coming to school late or leaving school early. Many seniors have different views on whether having it first or second is better.
When students have first hour free, many do not have to come to school until 9:20. This allows for extra sleep, a slower morning, and even a coffee run. While all the benefits sound pleasing to a busy high school senior, having first free is not as glamorous as it seems. Coming to school late means the parking lot is packed which makes finding a spot very difficult. “I love having first hour free because even though I have to drive my siblings to school I can drop them off and go somewhere else or take a nap in my car,” Senior Jo Lelos said.
Since school has started the building doors are locked, so students have to use their printer card to get into the school–a card many students have lost. Students either have to wait for someone to open the door or walk in with a friend who has a card. “I lost my card I think so I have to call into the building every day, and I think the office people get mad at me,” Lelos said.
I think it’s nice to have a shortened day and be able to get your afternoon started instead of getting your day started late and feeling behind.”
— Gabby Lenzmeier
Having free hour last allows students to leave at 12:35. Many find this nice as they can get homework and studying done before a busy night of activities. Senior Gabby Lenzmier has last hour free, goes to Starbucks to get all her work done, and then comes back to pick up her siblings at the end of the day. Other students go home, have appointments, early practice, etc. “I think it’s nice to have a shortened day and be able to get your afternoon started instead of getting your day started late and feeling behind,” Lenzmeier said.
Another benefit to leaving early is how fast students can get out of the parking lot. On normal ending days, students sit in parking lot traffic waiting to get out but with the privilege of leaving over an hour early, fast access is granted. “Instead of trying to rush to beat the traffic at the end of the day, I can now get out so fast with no problems,” Lenzmeier said.
Both have positives and negatives. Either sleeping in or finishing the school day early, many students get into the groove of when their free hour is and have a strong opinion on why one is better than the other.