After a little back and forth, and conversations among parents, students, staff, administrators and the MCPS school board, it is finally official: next year, the high school schedule will not return to the original 7:50 start. It will remain the same, except for a switch of office hours on Thursdays. On Thursdays, the first period of the day, second period, will start at 9:40 and office hours will follow, before lunch. How does this schedule compare to the original start time for HHS students and staff?

Birke Labbe, junior, said, “I really like the late start and honestly don’t mind getting out late. But I do think that 7:50 start time could be nice for people that are in sports or something because I know that with this schedule, they can get done really late.”

Eden Maxwell, junior, said, “I prefer the 7:50 start time honestly because starting at nine and going to four just monopolizes the entire day and is really bad for sports practices because then they go really late. And let’s be honest most of us aren’t getting any more sleep because we are just going to bed later so overall I’d be glad to go back.”

Mrs. Gustafson, English teacher said, “I am in support of the new schedule and the schedule that we’ll be continuing next year. I think it allows teenagers to get more sleep. And it allows teachers to get more done in the morning before school starts. And it’s just a more reasonable time for both students and teachers to get enough rest and also accomplish what needs to be done in the morning.”

Nico Petrini, Sophomore said, “We should do a schedule where the timing of our classes changes bi-weekly so athletes who have to leave school early don’t miss the same classes every week.”