There are many changes as the school year unfolds, and one has become a hot topic: longer class periods.

Many people are talking about the new schedule and questioning the differences that it brings.

“Why are there so many changes this school year?” senior Jerren Lum said.

With nearly a quarter of the school year completed, both the positive and negative effects of this change are being discussed throughout campus.

“A pro is that we have more time to learn but a con is that we get tired after lunch which makes us less productive,” sophomore Liya Siu said.

With the shorter lunches, students tend to find it difficult to refuel themselves before their next classes. However, according to Rebecca Hodge, the Assistant Principal of Student Life, the school has taken steps to expedite the school food services to create a more efficient eating experience.

Yet, teachers as well as students believe in the importance of a lunch period long enough to socialize and unwind.

“To have more time for the students to eat and sort of relax at lunch, I think would be nice,” Digital Arts and Yearbook teacher Tobi Kishimoto said.

Another schedule change producing talk involves office hours. The new, shorter office hours don’t allow students to utilize as much time as is necessary to receive the help they require from teachers.

However, a benefit with this new schedule is the tantalizing offer of more freedom for the high school students than last year. Many students now are able to roam the campus freely during free periods and office hours. The teachers and administration hope the change will help students become more responsible.

“I have seen students being more responsible, not only because they are older now, but because of [the] natural progression that is being shown this year,” MPX teacher Ethan Porter said.

Hodge stated that the school is setting the high schoolers up for success with this schedule. She has seen some change in how the students are utilizing their time during free periods.

“I have seen [more] students working during their free period on campus.” Hodge said.

Students are enjoying the freedom of spending free periods and office hours anywhere on campus. This gives the students an opportunity to have more freedom to hang out with their friends.

“I can go anywhere on campus to hang out with my friends,” sophomore Marcial Hutton said.

But, there are mixed feelings from the teachers if they like how students are able to go anywhere on campus when they have free periods and office hours.

Carolyn Roscoe, high school math teacher, said that she does not enjoy having students around campus during those times because it can distract other students that are in classes.

Longer periods are also something that many have mixed feelings about. Having longer periods benefits MPX, MPSA, and IB students that have projects. When these groups of students have projects, the extra time gives them the ability to finish in class.

“I really benefit from the longer classes because I am able to do as much work as possible in class so I don’t have that much homework,” freshman MPX Gavin Yasurnari said.

Kyle Malashewski, sophomore and IB English teacher said hat he enjoys having the longer periods especially for his IB students. It helps when they are doing longer assignments or projects that require extra time to finish.

However, the standard students and some teachers don’t care too much for the longer periods. Some students think that the periods are too long and that the teachers try to drag out the lessons.

Kara Histake, high school English teacher said that the class periods are too long.

“I do see students that tend to try to start packing up a few minutes before classes end, or they tend to be a little bit more worn down by the end of a period,” Hisatake said.

Despite the various opinions circulating campus, the schedule change represents an effort to simply improve the school.

“There still are some kinks that they are trying to figure out but I think this schedule is better than last years,” Kishimoto said.