The gryphon gazette issue 3 (dec 2015 16)

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The

Gryphon Gazette

December 2015

The Student Voice of St. George’s Independent School • Volume XIV, Issue III

Photo: Katie Boyle ’17 As a part of the new schedule next year, the committee has proposed to get rid of passing periods and bells. If this is incorporated into the new schedule, students would go to their next class immediately after they are dismissed by their teacher.

Rotating into a new schedule Proposed changes include late start, semesters Merryn Ruthling ’18

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magine school starting at 8:30 a.m., going to four 70-minute classes a day, having an extra letter day and taking exams twice a year. Next year at St. George’s, this may become a reality. These proposed schedule changes were introduced to a small group of students in November. Sophomore Maggie Vento was present at this meeting and is optimistic about the proposed changes. “I really like it,” Vento said. “I

think the fact that we may have semesters and a later start with tutorials in the morning will be better.” A committee of St. George’s teachers and administrators have been working to create a new schedule for over a year. The committee had two goals in mind when creating the new schedule. They wanted the new schedule to work with both the middle and upper school, and they wanted time to be used more efficiently in both wings, helping students be better rested and focused for class.

“The second piece is grounded in what brain research tells us about how people your age learn,” Head of Upper School Mr. Tom Morris said. “That tells us that the better rested you are with a later start in the day, the better you learn.” To achieve the first goal, the new schedule would be the same for both middle and upper school, including a sevenperiod rotation over seven days instead of the current rotation of an eight-period rotation over six days. To accomplish their next goal, the committee proposed

a later start time of 8:30 a.m., with tutorials in the morning instead of after school. Tutorial in the morning will allow sports practices to be held earlier in the afternoon, making it possible for students to start homework earlier than before. Faculty meetings would also be held in the morning on Wednesdays, resulting in a 9 a.m. start time on those days. “Teenagers need around nine hours of sleep,” Associate Head of School Mr. Will Bladt said. “If we can cut down on the number of homework assignments

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and get students an extra hour a day, that would be extremely helpful.” Another significant change in the current schedule includes not having dismissal bells or transitioning time in between classes. Currently, students have a four-minute period to get to class. Next year, however, this four-minute period will be removed and students will get to class as quickly as possible.

Cont. on Page 3

Top Stories News • Can’t we all just ‘Meet in the Middle?’ (p.3)

Sports • Taking up arms (p.4)

• Senior Sophia Quesada captures the lives of St. George’s students (p.6)

• 12 things to do this Christmas (p.8)

Opinion • Give me pretzels or give me death (p.10)


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