Changes in Schedule

Maclay Gets Rid Of an Everyday Homeroom Block

Photo by Alex Simpson on Unsplash

This school year, the Maclay Upper School has made a few changes to its previous schedule, one of which being the removal of a designated homeroom block that occurred everyday. By taking away this time, Maclay has decreased connections between teachers and students, forced students to sit through longer classes without a substantial break and taken away time to meet with both teachers and clubs alike.

When students see and interact with a certain teacher every day, it builds a deeper connection with them than it does with an every-other day rotation. As all of the Upper School classes are on a A day B day rotation, students do not see any certain teacher daily. Previously, when students were able to meet with their homeroom on a daily basis, it allowed for a deeper relationship to be built.

“Last year we had more unstructured time with our homeroom, so we had a better opportunity to get to know each other." Chemistry teacher Kristen Kline said.

The removal of this homeroom block also removes a break time students were given. Last school year, students had 70 minute classes, five minute breaks between each class and a 30 minute break for homeroom after the first two periods. This school year, students now have 75 minute classes with ten minute breaks in between and no significant break. This year's schedule, while having 5 extra minutes between classes, has students working for nearly four hours straight. This is not enough time to sustain students who are actively learning and working.

When students do not have this daily homeroom block, it cuts down on times for students to meet with teachers and clubs. In the 24-25 school year, students had both their homeroom block and their advisory time to talk with teachers and go to club meetings or events. Because of the removal of this homeroom block, students now have less time to meet with their teachers. Being part of clubs is a large part of the student life at Maclay. When time is taken away to meet for these clubs, these organizations will naturally not perform as well as they did last year. 

This being said, there are some substantial claims on why this year's schedule is better for the upper school as a whole. Having a homeroom built into one of the blocks saves time and is more efficient, allowing for more academic work to be done on the campus. Classes are longer, which lets teachers get more done in a given day. However, even though it is more efficient, students have less time to develop a personal community with their teachers, as well as the students in their homeroom. 

When deciding which schedule to choose, there are two values which to decide from: academic efficiency or a student’s individual relationship with their peers and with their homeroom teachers. The students' connections to those around them is more important than a specific class's certain level of educational productivity, and the schedule should reflect that.