Lucky Number 7°
By: Militsa Linker (Assistant Editor)
In the 2024-25 school year, GWHS switched its class schedule to add a seventh period, and a poll of students who experienced the switch found that 60.3% of them wanted to keep it going into next year.
The increase in periods lets students take more classes that they want, or even fewer classes to accommodate their schedules. GWHS counselor Jessica Ticas claimed giving more options to students, additional graduation requirements, and art students having to defer their chemistry class are the reasons why the seventh period was added. Looking forward, the school will be working on how to make the schedule an even better experience for everyone.
Our poll of 219 sophomores, juniors, and seniors showed that 56.5% of responders agreed that the seven-period schedule is beneficial to college readiness and applications. The opportunity to take more classes lets students learn more, find their interests, take credit recovery, and learn time management. It also makes students’ applications look more impressive. “Seven periods allows for more class choices, giving students who are low income such as myself a better chance at college applications and acceptance,” one sophomore wrote. Students get to finish their graduation requirements earlier so they can have more free time later on. Since students have more options for elective classes as they move up grades, many are happy to have the space to enroll in more of them.
There are many more students who have free periods in general, compared to last year’s six-period schedule. Our poll showed that 33.4% of the students who responded have six or fewer periods. Many students now have the autonomy to choose how they can best manage their learning, like having more time for homework. “This year is the era of TAs,” said Ticas. She mentions that there are many more of her students doing dual enrollment this year. One of the sophmore poll responders adds, “it also lets people who don't have a seventh to get counseling, do extracurriculars, get to their jobs on time, and so much more,” Students get the chance to do other productive things for their lives and enrichment, expanding their college applications in a different way.
The many students who were able to choose to not have a first period have the chance to sleep longer. The Nationwide Children’s Hospital reports, “the average amount of sleep that teenagers get is between 7 and 7 ¼ hours. However, they need between 9 and 9 ½ hours.” This extra time is essential to a teenager’s development and mental health by reducing burnout, something that modern society has been trying to prioritize.
However, the new schedule has also had a negative impact on students’ mental health: workloads haven’t decreased in tandem. “It can also be stressful to the social life of students,” a sophomore with seven periods shared. “I would like to see a block day schedule which would let students learn more in class, and not have to get loads of homework every day.” There needs to be some response from teachers and admin to deal with this strain.
This year, students have had difficulties even getting a spot in the classes they want to take because there’s not enough room. Ticas offered culinary geography, one of the school’s most desired senior classes, as an example. “The frequency of students dropping classes has gone up. It’s very hard to put them into another class because classes are just full,” explained Ticas. This is one of the reasons why so many students have free periods, despite some actually wanting more classes. “I had to go through a ton of obstacles to try to even sign up for all seven so I ended up just giving up on trying it, “ stated a junior with only six periods.
Having more periods in the day with the same minutes of school time resulted in the cutting of each class’ time from 54 to 50 minutes, according to the bell schedule on the GWHS school website. Despite the minute difference, many students liked that classes felt more manageable. One sophomore poll responder taking seven periods wrote, “It feels a lot less tiring than having only 6 periods that last much longer.”
However, the additional class period also cut into the passing period. When passing periods are so short on such a large campus, students often can’t do anything, like going to the bathroom or their locker, without risking being late. One sophomore shared, “sometimes my teachers aren’t so sympathetic about that when I get to class just a couple minutes after the second bell.”
This seven-period schedule seems like it is here to stay. Ticas said the decision to switch was made halfway through scheduling meetings, and counselors had to scramble to make changes. Now that we’ve been through one year of this schedule, GWHS administration is taking steps to mitigate the complaints members of the school community have expressed. Ticas mentioned that there are plans to hire a couple of new teachers and hopes to increase the number of periods offered for certain classes. She talked of a new legal requirement for schools to provide seven periods to their students, but we haven’t been able to find an official source to confirm that.
An anonymous sophomore explained the value of another period, “the worst part of growing up is not having enough time to do everything. Seven periods means we have one more thing that isn't lost to lack of time.” This schedule has given all students the freedom to control the pace they learn and to pursue their interests.
