A student sits in class bouncing their leg anxiously while glaring at the clock. The minutes are going by at a glacial speed and they still have a two hour block left with only a 30 minute break.

   For many students this was extremely stress inducing, having three-hour classes with no breaks; however, it was the reality for many of the students at Poway High School in the second trimester of this year. 

Students still felt overwhelmed and staff wanted more prep time before their next class , so the administration adjusted the schedule again for third trimester.

With the new schedule, both Tuesday and Thursday students will be released at 1:11 p.m., however on Wednesday students will remain in class until 3:35 p.m..

    On Wednesday, after the usual late start, students check into their first period classes for a  one hour tutorial period where students will head to one of their classes to study. Students will then have their two hour finals blocks of periods one and two. 

   According to Principal Richard Nash, longer finals days in trimester two allowed for substantially shortened class periods for this trimester’s final schedule since the requirements have been met. In addition,  the instructional minutes requirements only allow for four minimum days and two are already used at the beginning of each trimester.

 “There aren’t enough minimum days for you to have them during all your finals,” Principal Richard Nash said. 

Last trimester we were unable to get clearance on transportation for early release and the schedule was forced to have regular release time. 

 “We have to clear it with transportation in the district because the same buses are used for elementary and the middle schools,” Assistant Principal Cindy Lewis said.  

   When building the minutes schedule, Nash decided to bank minutes in case of a cancelled school day – such as for a fire –, which has allowed the school to use the last minimum day for two days of finals.