A Four Day New Schedule

A new four day schedule has been implemented for this school year, one that has not been seen before.

BY CAROLINE SCHILLING

For previous school years, new academic daily schedules have been put into place causing new adjustments and alterations. This year, a schedule has been created with the hopes of bringing new opportunities and advancements to both students and staff.

Seen in the past are five day rotating schedules, seven day rotating schedules, traditional seven periods schedule, and others. This year, the team made up of educators and administrators collaborated with teachers through a google form to collect their input and hopes for the schedule. The results from this google form created our current schedule, a four day rotating schedule.

Vice Principal for Academics Mr. Mark Matthews collaborated with other administrators to create the schedule. He sees a lot of success from this schedule for both students and teachers. Matthews said, “All of the feedback that I have had thus far indicates that people do like this schedule as opposed to our previous schedule.”

This schedule allows students to meet with their classes more often, but has the downside of attending six classes a day as opposed to five as it was during last year’s schedule. To allow the change in number of classes, the length of classes has been shortened to 55 minutes. This is better for the students and allows more interaction between them. Matthews describes this as “a true rotating schedule (other than Alpha),” which he thinks is good for all.

A downside of having an extra class a day is the workload. Many students have noticed an increase in their homework, tests, and quizzes. Matthews believes that other than this complication, it is still better than previous schedules. He said, “I think the only complaint that I have heard from students is that they do have six classes a day instead of five. That might mean more homework on a daily basis.”

During the first and second week, adjustments were made during lunches. There are still the traditional three lunch periods, but lunches have been more crowded due to the increase in students. This issue has been resolved by dividing the numbers and students also are choosing alternative lunch options.

Matthews and other administrators created a google form collecting teachers opinions, and sent it out in March of 2022. They proposed three different schedules in this form and results favored the four day schedule. He said, “Last March when we looked at all of the schedules for this year, I got input from all educators and more than 60% preferred this four day schedule than any of the other options.”

Throughout the first quarter, he has not heard of any major concerns regarding the schedule, and believes that it will continue to succeed for both students and teachers. “I think one thing that a lot of people appreciate about the four day rotation is even in a four day week, you get all the way through the cycle. It provides more opportunities for each class to meet,” he said.

Last year, the schedule had a built in activity period which would occur during E period. Many believed that this built in time was a waste and there were too many built in. This year for activities, periods are built into the schedule to allow for more flexibility and ability for the activity period. Office hours are still offered on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

More classes allows for more interaction and overall allows for success across the student body. Matthews said, “Meeting more often is certainly a positive because (of) the more opportunities that each class has to interact with the teacher better. Generally speaking, 55 minute classes are better for students than longer classes.”

Religion teacher Mr. Cole Hepp during a Religion class in the new daily schedule. Photo by Ava Palmer '24

With 27 brand new teachers as well as a handful of transfer students, the Hill has gained many new additions. BY MADELINE TAYLOR

After a over month of school, students have begun to adjust and gather their bearings. For some, however; that transition has been easier compared to others. With a multitude of new students as well as new teachers, the Hill has had plenty of new additions. From Germany to South Carolina, people have come from all over to be a part of the culture here on the Hill.

For one teacher, it wasn’t much of a far drive. After teaching a variety of math classes at Ivy Tech Community College, Math Teacher Mr. Leslie Meyer came to Cathedral for a change of pace. Meyer said,” I absolutely love it and I’m grateful for all the support that has been given to me by the people that work here.” Thanks to the aid of fellow math teacher Mrs. Christine Koers, Meyer was able to transition from college to high school level. Meyer said, “Mrs. Koers and I taught at Ivy Tech together and we ran into each other back in the spring and I ended up here.” With both an undergraduate and master's degree in secondary education, Meyer will provide a plethora of experience to the Geometry and Algebra 2 classes he teaches.

In addition to the new teacher in the math department, the STEM section of the Hill has had another boost with the addition of a Pre-Engineering Teacher Mr. Tim Tappel. After working previously in Kentucky, he and his wife made the move to teach on the Hill. Tappel said, “I knew I wanted to end up as a teacher. Mr. Matthews had a resume for me on file because I applied maybe 7 or 8 years ago so he reached out to me. After talking, he hired me and my wife and both moved out here.” After working previously at Amazon, the switch to teaching came from an experience in youth ministry. Tappel said, “I love teaching, back when I was a youth minister I got the most out of actually teaching people about the faith so from that experience I knew I wanted to end up as a teacher.”

Despite all the new faculty this year, without students there would be no classrooms. In addition to the large, new freshman class, the Hill has met a multitude of new transfer students. Likely traveling the farthest distance, Junior Flynn Larshen attends school after moving from Germany. After taking time to adjust to a new prominent language, Lahrsen said “Yeah it’s been very difficult, but It’s been good, it’s nice to be here.” With American high schools providing a different culture compared to other countries Lahrsen said, “I’m excited to go to football games and enjoy the sports culture.”

Although Germany is the farthest traveled by a new student this year, there have still been many miles traveled by others to attend school on the Hill. Despite only being on the Hill for one year, Senior Beatrice Berle transferred from South Carolina. For her first impression of the school, Berle said, “It’s been nice getting to meet everyone because they’ve all been super nice.”

Despite the overall positive remarks, the adjustment hasn’t been completely straightforward for everyone. Both Tappel and Meyer commented on the new schedules being particularly difficult at first. Tappel said, “The hardest part has been getting used to the schedule, you pick up on it but it's a little odd.” After some time, however, both agreed that it became easier to follow.

These are the stories of only a handful of the transfers and new teachers on the Hill this year, each with their own story about why they choose to come here and what their experiences with it have been. For both new students as well as returning ones, Berle said, “Try to get involved in activities. Try to be friendly with everyone and put yourself out there.”

Students adjusting to their new classes and geting settled in a new environment with new teachers. Photo Submitted

Students from the whole school gather for one of the first assemblys of the year. Photo by Jade Zhao 23'