This school year, a schedule change was instituted that removed ten minutes from each class and added lion block, a time intended for students to go to homeroom, eat lunch, get help from teachers, and go to clubs. Although the schedule change has had many positive effects, ten minutes a day adds up. For semester-long classes, two weeks of class time is lost and for year-long courses, a month of class time is cut. For everyday classes this equates to 27 hours or 21 ½ periods of lost class time. Is the immense reduction in class time worth it?
Saint Viator students certainly think so. In a poll sent out to sophomores, juniors, and seniors, 87.2 percent of students said the schedule change had a positive effect on academics at Saint Viator.
“I have had more time to get homework done and meet with teachers,” said senior Abigail Sheldon. Before, many students did not utilize Flex Time to visit teachers and ask questions. Now, lion block gives students an excuse to get more help. Teachers agree with this as well.
“I have seen students come in more for help during Lion Block. This has drastically improved some students’ grades by up to 10%,” said Spanish teacher Ms. Elyse Slezak.
Lion Block also provides an escape from rigorous classes and allows students to unwind.
“I often go to the weight room during Lion Block,” said a senior. “This helps me to clear my mind and get my brain moving again before the second half of classes.”
Lion Block has also given students more of an opportunity to enrich their spiritual and social lives, and many more students have been going to clubs.
“There wasn’t this community being formed when students left campus during [Flex Time] at the end of the school day in previous years. So much of the high school experience is non-academic, and I enjoy seeing a stronger sense of community in our school,” said Spanish teacher Mr. Kurt Paprocki ’00.
On the other hand, students view the addition of homeroom as a negative. In the student survey, there were no positive comments about homeroom: all student responses said it was a waste of time. However, several teachers mentioned how homeroom has been beneficial for students, while others believe that it needs to be changed to once a week or is unnecessary.
Overall, only 28.6 percent of teachers liked the new schedule better, with 42.9% of teachers liking the old schedule better and 28.5% of teachers liking lion block but believing it needs tweaks.
Many teachers mentioned how they are behind in teaching the material they need to cover and will not be able to cover the same amount as past years.
“Just the loss of those ten minutes hurts the amount of content we can cover, which will affect further classes in the language,” said Slezak. Will students’ AP exam scores also be affected if not as much content can be covered?
In addition, some teachers believe their classes are not as dynamic as before, which leads to a reduction in the depth of student understanding. For example, science courses are not able to do as many labs because of the class time reduction.
Perhaps one of the ways to solve this problem is by extending classes into lion block. For example, if students are taking AP Chemistry, the first ten minutes of lion block could be a continuation of that class if students had it second period.
Separate classes could also be offered during lion block.
“It is difficult for some students to participate in the fine arts as they have no time or are concerned that it may negatively impact their GPA,” said chemistry teacher Mrs. Cheryl Dispensa. “It would be nice to offer [classes during lion block] to students to pick up additional fine arts during this time. Or, sometimes it is difficult to get their language class in their schedule and it may be a requirement for college.”
Although Lion Block has offered numerous opportunities to students, it may require some adjustment in the future. So the question remains: is Lion Block worth its cost?