Poway High School’s bell schedule was modified for online learning. This has made school weeks way different than before, and these modifications have more positives than negatives.

The new schedule now allows us to sleep in longer than we used to. Rather than having to wake up before seven in the morning to head out to school, we now can wake up at 7:50 a.m. and easily hop into our first period Zoom class on time. Now there is no rushing needed to get ready for the school day, which reduces the amount of stress placed on students.

 I also enjoy how lunch is after fourth period. We now get a lunch break and then head straight into our last class of the day, rather than lunch into two more periods like the old schedule. I enjoy this because we now get our longest break of the day right before our final class.

The bell schedule has made it so that our breaks are also our passing period, which is nice because we get a ten minute break between every class. This allows for a less stressful time to use the restroom, grab a snack, or lay down for a bit.

Even with the great things the new schedule brought, it sadly got rid of one of the best aspects of the school week: the short day on every Monday. This modification was a removal of something that every student loved. Our short day came right after the weekend, meaning that the first day back was short and to the point. Short day provided a day to recuperate and prepare for the rest of the week to come. The loss of the short day makes every school day have the same duration, taking away what little variety our schedule had. Unlike Westview, Rancho Bernardo, and Mount Carmel, Poway is one of the only schools that does not have a short day incorporated in their new learning experience. 

Although the new schedule has taken away our beloved short day, it has given us more time for breaks and more time to sleep, making the school days slightly better than they were before.