During Park Connections, Park was introduced to a possible change to block scheduling. Students at Park were asked to fill out google forms to express their sentiments towards the changes for the upcoming second semester. The Echo Editorial Board agrees the new block schedule will make a positive impact on students’ workdays, however, Park Connections should be an optional check-in on Wednesdays.

While in distance learning, it can be hard to stay on task and get work done; a check-in with teachers serves as a reminder for students to get back to doing school work. This is a helpful opportunity to provide students with structure, especially for asynchronous classes. 

Others feel the new schedule will give students more work time which will allow them to be more productive because the subject is still fresh on their minds. The Echo Editorial Board is in favor of the new proposed schedule because of its built-in work time immediately following class. By the end of the school day, many students grow tiresome from being on Zoom and don’t have the energy to do homework. Block scheduling will hopefully allow more availability for students to get it done. 

There are some concerns that teachers will abuse this double class length and make them stay on for longer than 45 minutes. Another concern is that students will be expected to do homework from the previous day’s classes and the synchronous classes.

The Echo Editorial Board agreed that Park Connections is not as helpful as it intends to be and should be modified in some way. It is a chore to remember to log into one class in the middle of a Wednesday, making students spend even more time on Zoom and waste time doing something that is not helpful to the academic success of students. The solution should be an optional meeting with your Park Connections teacher on Wednesdays if you need a reminder to stay productive. 

The time allotted for school work can be an important aspect of a typical school day which is why it’s important that students are allowed uninterrupted time to themselves to complete the tasks assigned to them during school hours. The Echo Editorial Board is hopeful that the new schedule will be a solution to the problem of incomplete work or distractions. 

The Echo Editorial Board advises students to fill out the Google Form and honestly answer the questions about the new proposed schedule.