A lot of things are changing this school year. Class of 2019 is coming and Class of 2016 is going, new rules have been made, and for students at Highlands Ranch, that includes a new homeroom schedule that is slightly disputed.
The new homeroom is now partially different from last year, but it still has a big impact: students can now only go to two different rooms per homeroom session for half an hour each. This limits how many classrooms the students can visit throughout the homeroom session.
Some students believe that they might not use all that time, as most assignments would seem to only take a few minutes during the homeroom period.
According to student Vanessa Munoz, senior, “I’d rather have last year’s system, because we can go wherever we want, any classes we want, unlike this time, where we can only go to one class at a time.”
Another senior, Olivia Johnson, said, “I would rather have last year’s system, because I don’t necessarily need to be in a class for 30 minutes. It prevents you from going to more than 2 teacher’s classes. If you miss a 7 period day, it doesn’t work well.” She also stated that the system works depending on “what kind of a student you are”.
However, others see benefits to the homeroom change. The schedule provides students with more work time, students do not need to take up time after school, and teachers have time with students. The AA period is also in a good position, as it is directly after 1st, and allows work time for 5th and 7th, or even classes the next day. As an example, student athletes do not have much time due to practices. With academic assistance, they can do 1st period’s homework in the evening, and the rest during AA.
The new HR principal, Mr. Page, stated that to make the proper change for the homeroom schedule, administration had collected data on student’s grades, as well as feedback from teachers about homeroom. “We also spoke with a number of students about homeroom and its impact,” Page explained. “The focus of homeroom last year was, when it was put together, to increase student grades, and help us out being more successful with homeroom and our academic success.”
According to Page, the cumulative grade data from the 2014-2015 spring semester showed that grades had actually fallen lower with the new homeroom, which they believe was due to the fact “there was a lack of structure with homeroom” which explains the 2-period system now in place. Page advises that “every student give this a true try until the end of September” before criticizing the system.
For students, the homeroom might be changed back if the student body shows their dislike on the issue, but for now, that power is in the hands of administrators, and if anything, based on last year’s grade data, it will most likely stay this way.
John Boughey, Staff Reporter
