Swapping and dropping – the hectic day at Glen Rock High School.

The rotating drop schedule, implemented this year, provides an earlier dismissal which gives additional time for sports and other after school activities.

The new lunch period has students of all grade levels eating lunch together. Since the lunch combines all the grades, students can eat in the cafeteria, the gym, or the courtyard, weather permitting.

Madeline Hay, freshman, said, “I enjoy eating lunch as a whole, but I dislike the places where we eat.”

The lunch periods are also longer, nearly an hour in duration, allowing students to finish homework and study for upcoming tests. Emily Pensec, freshman, said that this “gives students an opportunity to make new friends.”

Mario Porciello, a Glen Rock science teacher, said, “Yes, the new lunch is good. It gives students a chance to meet different people in different grades.” Although the spots to eat are crowded, the hour lunch allows time for homework to get done.

Hay said, “It is convenient for teachers, they have more time to teach.” To which Porciello agreed, adding, “It is so convenient for teachers because we get a somewhat longer time to do prep work.”

The longer periods allow more time to teach curriculum and learn more information. It also provides teachers with fewer class periods per day and more time to grade assignments.  Pensec explained, “It helps teachers maintain the workload.”

Not only does this new schedule allows students to drop two periods each day, but students also rotate the order of their class periods. Let’s say a student has math first block on day one — the following day it will be second, then third, then s/he will drop the class.

There are three periods in the morning, followed by lunch, and then an additional three periods. Students drop one period in the morning and one in the afternoon. “The new schedule helps us maintain homework and give us more time to complete it,” Pensec said.

“The schedule gives you a chance to reflect on the class,” Porciello said.

Emily Pensec, in her first year at Glen Rock, is particularly thankful to have extra time – and occasionally the extra night – to finish her homework.

From a teacher’s perspective, Porciello said, “I do enjoy the schedule. It provides a lot of time. This year we are getting more work done.”

Most students seem to agree, as well. “The new schedule is fantastic,” Hay said.