Roch Egan – Late Arrivals

Riddle me this…

Would you rather get out of school an hour early so that you could hangout with… nobody, just to come back to school, getting caught in pickup traffic, because you have practice? Or, have an extra hour of sleep, grab your Starbucks coffee without being rushed and promptly arrive “on time” to each of your second period classes? I’ll choose the latter.

Let’s talk scientifically for a moment. According to the Student Health Advisory counsel for the one and only Michigan University, a study was conducted on student sleep and how it relates to grades. This study and many others have concluded the fact that sleep deprivation is one of, if not the most, detrimental inputs when it comes to grades. It is of the utmost importance that students get proper sleep for their daily activities of academic rigor.

Now let me think here, if I don’t have to be at school until 9:40, that means I can wake up an hour later, and if I wake up an hour later, I get an hour more sleep! Funny how math works. Adding an hour of sleep for seniors who are already cramming late night study sessions is a godsend.

Although early dismissal certainly seems like a wonderful use of your time, it’s not. Let’s crunch some numbers. Take for example a senior who does ANY sport, unless said sport does not practice on campus, our beloved senior will be dismissed from school at 2:15, drives themself home for an average of 15 minutes, then drives themselves back for 3:30 practice. “Oh, but Roch, you still have an hour at home!” Not when you take into consideration the atrocity that is Cathedral’s end of the day pickup situation. That hour quickly gets cut down when you factor in the time spent waiting in line on 56th street. And worry not, at 9:40am on a Tuesday morning there are no lines on 56th street.

And what if you don’t have a sport? You go home just so that you can be unproductive at home rather than productive at school. We all know that productivity in general is far superior in a school setting. Senior Katherine Nash said “I love having late arrival, I can sleep in, and even if I come here, I’m free to get stuff done early in the morning.”

Sleep and productivity are clearly improved when your first period class is open, so rather than getting out of school early to have 30 minutes of free time before your clubs, sports, or work, take an entire hour! Get some good rest, and have the liberty you desire for the early hours of your morning.

Caroline Schilling – Early Dismissal

As a senior, I believe more opportunities should be available to create flexibility in a student’s schedule. While I understand that there is late arrival available for seniors now, I believe the next step that should be made is adding early dismissal in a seniors schedule. 

While late arrival is a good option, it does not actually allow students to sleep in more or make their schedules better fit them. I personally would not choose to do a late arrival because of the problems with traffic on my way and the lack of parking available when I would arrive. (I know it is shocking that this has to do with parking too. 

Similarly, early dismissal would allow students for more flexibility with any after school appointments or activities. For me, it is easier to schedule appointments in the afternoon or end of school time since places open later in the afternoon than they initially open when I would need to go in the morning. For many places, their morning appointments would still overlap with my time of arrival at school, even with late arrival in my schedule. I would also have more time in the afternoon and evening to get a head start on any school work.  

Just as late arrival takes the place of an Alpha class, the schedule would need to be adjusted to also fit early dismissal. For example, our four day schedule currently starts with Alpha on three of the four days. Therefore, the same idea would need to be implemented in a new schedule with the same class, again, on three of the four days. While this may seem like a tax to implement, what is one more schedule change to hurt! 

Teachers are also able to appreciate this change. Religion teacher Mr. Nick Jamell said, “You gain much more by getting out of school early and having time to accomplish what you need. If you arrive late, all you are going to do is end up in worse traffic and sleep in more, which doesn’t help you at all in the long run.” 

So… why wait to implement this? If late start is already offered, it is a no brainer that this should be as well!