The end of the school day will officially be at 2:45 p.m. as of Monday, Jan. 25. The change comes after the Academic Council and student leadership reviewed a school-wide survey, according to a formal announcement from administration. 

Administration unveiled the announcement to teachers today, Jan. 20.

After the Christmas prayer service on Dec. 8, Principal Madelyn Ball made an announcement explaining that some members of the community feel that the 10-minute break before the last mod is a waste of time and should be changed.

“Through the poll, faculty and students didn’t value the break and would rather end the day five minutes early,” Vice Principal of Student Affairs and Technology Brian Powell said.

Administration adds another improvement to the schedule that was made for the 2015-2016 school year. They have been trying to balance the needs of the students with the needs of the teachers.  With the improvements, the school also developed a new database system, Veracross, that administration has also improved throughout the year. The 10 minute break has gotten negative responses from both.

“It was pretty obvious students weren’t okay with the extra ten minutes. We checked and they have been saying, ‘eh we don’t like it,’” guidance counselor Carol Heflin-Shupe said.

Originally, the extra ten minutes were implemented to help students have a break. “When we built our schedule, we had a rule that no student should have no more than two classes without a break,” Powell said.

Students were sent a survey which asked them what they felt should be done with the 10 minutes, and the survey gave students options to select one alternative use for the ten minutes. The options included: cut the break from the schedule and move dismissal to 2:45 p.m., add the extra ten minutes to advisory, or leave the ten minute break the way it is.

Ball wanted to listen to the students opinions on the break instead of the administration’s regarding the new schedule because it affected students the most. “[The students] are the ones who have been the most vocal,” Ball said.

Junior Claire Pika is a supporter for the change in the schedule. “I don’t really like [the break], it is a waste of time,” Pika said.

The five minutes will be reevaluated during the summer. “Five minutes is valuable time in an academic setting, so we will look at it again in the summer to see if we can change it,” Powell said.

Azanae Barrow is a Community Editor and Kishan Patel is the Online Editor in Chief for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.