By Courtney Cooperman `16, Staff Writer
A number of revisions and adjustments have been made to Newark Academy’s calendar to cope with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The administration has responded to the issue of missed class time in a clever way: the addition of bonus periods.
Despite some complications created by the bonus periods, this novel solution is logical and successful in making up lost time. Each course lost three or four meetings from the storm, depending on the slot and the amount of times it meets per cycle. According to Upper School Principal Dr. DiBianca, the bonus period is the “superior option” to regain these missed classes. Dr. DiBianca describes it as a “good-faith effort to minimize the possibility of removing pre-scheduled vacations,” though he concedes it does demand more of students and teachers by adding an extra class to each day.
Students prefer the addition of bonus periods to the elimination of vacation days, but the added class period can lead to frustration, fatigue, and stress. It’s challenging to be prepared for classes not written on the regular schedules. During the seventh class period, it is harder to concentrate, and many students feel that they miss important information. There is also more homework assigned for students each night and and less days to complete it. As stated by Sophia Busam `16: “The bonus periods create more stress for students, especially when they have more assignments due the next day, which contributes to a lack of sleep. This causes a cycle that does not benefit a healthy environment at school.” Despite these complaints, most students agree that the bonus periods are a more favorable option than cutting into vacations.
Teachers concur that the bonus periods are a practical solution to the challenging situation created by the hurricane. As stated by health and physical education teacher Ms. Rode, “Although [the bonus periods] make for a long day, it is better than coming in on a day we were supposed to be off for breaks or adding days on to the end of the year and such. At my old school district, all snow days were made up at the end of the school year, which pushed back graduation further into June. I like the bonus period method to avoid that.” Math teacher Ms. Pursell also believes the bonus periods are worthwhile, especially for classes with a designated amount of material to cover in a year.
While the bonus period schedule helps most classes catch up on missed material, it has the opposite effect for some part-time courses. While acknowledging that “having slightly longer days and shortened periods is the least negative impact,” instrumental music teacher Ms. Emilianoff described the negative effects on some of her classes in detail. “Unfortunately, a few teachers who teach part time courses which meet during the Universal Drop, like Orchestra and Concert Choir, won’t have an opportunity to recover lost class time as they are not factored into the bonus period schedule. On top of that, the shortened periods make if very difficult to warm up and tune properly. I find myself ‘rehearsing for the concert’ rather than being creative as I am with the Wind Ensemble, which does have bonus periods.”
Despite the cooperative attitude toward the bonus periods, the atmosphere of the school has undeniably changed. There is less time after school to meet with teachers, heightening stress levels and constricting common times of availability among students and faculty. Furthermore, Ms. Pursell remarked that the students are noticeably exhausted on days with bonus periods. Ms. Emelianoff described the system as more similar to the old schedule, which had eight shorter periods in a day that rotated through the schedule over six days. The additional anxiety involved in this schedule was a major reason for the switch to our current schedule. As stated by Ms. Emelianoff, “It makes for a more tense day because there is less time off between meetings of classes. The fact that you have the class more often means that the homework burden is not as spread out. Having fewer classes a day makes for a calmer atmosphere.”
Although there are many drawbacks to the bonus periods, this innovative solution has effectively achieved its main goal. Recovering from Hurricane Sandy has demanded increased effort from everyone. Likewise, compensating for missed class time cannot be done without some strain and sacrifice. The bonus period schedule may seem onerous, but it is only temporary.
In the final analysis, extra class time and homework are trivial problems compared to the struggles faced by many hurricane victims. We are fortunate that one more class each day is our greatest source of distress in the aftermath of the recent disaster. There is no dispute that the bonus periods are a small hardship to endure.
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