The new Adams 12 Five Star calendar was announced this week and wow, we as students are in for some change.  No more short days on Wednesdays to catch up on assignments and sleep.  I honestly don’t know how I feel about this change yet – maybe in the end it will be nice to have a few extra breaks throughout the year.  But those of us that are athletes likely won’t really get to take off.  I really hope that our coaches give us this as downtime to rest, travel, and spend time with our families but I guess we will see.  Personally, I know that the February break is during the time when girl’s and boy’s basketball would be going to state playoffs, so more than likely if our team is strong next year we will be working hard in the gym!

The whole process played out with a series of votes and it sounds like no one made a strong case for one calendar over the other.  The two options were to maintain a schedule like we had this year and past years with the shortened Wednesdays, fewer extended breaks, and different age groups having different schedules – making it a little harder for families juggling kids in different schools/levels.  The other option takes away our Wednesdays, lines things up better for families, and allows for an extended break a few extra times throughout the year. 

Students preferred mostly to keep things the same – we love our Wednesdays.  Parents and teachers were a little more in favor of the aligned schedule B.  In the end administration, without a glaring winner, chose Schedule B.  I look forward to writing more about the outcome next year at this time – is it really better, did we really get a chance to refresh and recharge more often, or did our teachers assign big assignments and our coaches put us to work?  I really hope that these changes are for the better and only time will tell.