By Isabelle Emmanuel and Saktisri Gowrishankar, Staff Reporters
As the bell rings, students fill up the cafeteria, walk through the hallways and rush to meet friends. Benches occupy the space where lockers used to be, cleaning stations are located around the building and food is allowed in the atrium.
On Jan. 2, the Tredyffrin/Easttown school board approved a new mixed-model schedule that Conestoga implemented at the beginning of the school year. Students and teachers follow a “Garnet” and “Gray” alternating five-day schedule instead of the previous six-day cycle, with three lunch blocks in place of four. Wednesdays and Thursdays consist of four block classes and a one-hour “Lunch and Learn” period for the whole school. Principal Dr. Amy Meisinger feels that the new schedule was a necessary change to promote the well-being of students and faculty.
“We’ve had the same schedule since 1994,” Meisinger said. “We also had noticed that a number of schools around us had gone to this Lunch and Learn concept. We also wanted to see if this was something that might be beneficial to our students and something that we could do with a school of our size.”
The administration introduced Lunch and Learn incrementally, with Meisinger hosting an orientation for each grade during the second week’s Lunch and Learn periods. Teachers showed a video created by Peer Mediation to familiarize students with the rules of Lunch and Learn.
Students can eat in the cafeteria, courtyard, hallways, classrooms and non-carpeted areas of the atrium. A “Grab-and-Go” food kiosk in the atrium during Lunch and Learn provides a variety of foods that students can purchase using their school pin.
Additionally, lunch privileges permit seniors to leave campus for the Lunch and Learn period. Senior Allie Hickey acknowledges the advantages and challenges of the new privilege.
“I really like that with Lunch and Learn, I’m able to not feel rushed. My friends and I have more time to sit down and enjoy a meal instead of rushing to get back,” Hickey said. “Trying to sign out and back in with the Powerschool ID has been an issue, but I know they’re trying to change that with the iPads. Overall, I think being able to leave for a longer period offers more freedom, and it’d be even better if the sign-out was made quicker.”
Lunch and Learn also offers opportunities for students to review content with teachers, partake in school-wide activities and attend club meetings. Twelfth grade assistant principal Dr. Patrick Boyle posts a weekly schedule of such options on Schoology. On assigned days of each month, certain departments are unavailable to meet as faculty collaborate with each other.
The new schedule introduces a passport system during Lunch and Learn for freshmen and those who misuse the privilege. Excessive violation of Lunch and Learn rules will result in a loss of privilege, and eventually, detention.
During every Lunch and Learn in September and October, freshmen must have a teacher sign off in a booklet to confirm which Learn activity they completed and are not allowed to go to the atrium and library. Freshman Elaina Wang likes the schedule due to block days despite it taking some adjustment.
“I like the block days because there’s less classes (students) have to think about, and even though they’re longer, they don’t feel that long to me,” Wang said.
The new block periods have provided some unique educational opportunities. Science classes can utilize an entire 82-minute block to conduct lab experiments, and teachers have more time to complete in-class work. Music teacher Christopher Nation was involved in the committee that designed the new schedule and feels that it is beneficial, providing more time to practice.
“I see some big benefits for the music department. We can use Lunch and Learn to give students access to resources and material that we wouldn’t usually have time for in our curriculum,” Nation said. “I personally love the block schedule because as we’re preparing for concerts, it gives us some time to go deep into some pieces for ensembles. For students, it always takes time to unpack and repack (their belongings), and this gets rid of that so we have a much longer instructional period.”
Eleventh grade assistant principal Matthew Sterenczak helped oversee the mixed-model schedule’s creation and supports the new changes.
“There’s never that time of the day to take a breath. For everyone socially, emotionally, for mental health, I think there’s so many things that we can enhance when we take that pause,” Sterenczak said. “So, I’m hugely optimistic about what this can be for us as a school community.”
Isabelle Emmanuel can be reached at [email protected].
Saktisri Gowrishankar can be reached at [email protected].
