The 2020-2021 school year has been one unlike any other, and the changes keep coming. The latest change was the school board’s decision to switch synchronous-by-appointment Mondays to the regular Tuesday-Friday synchronous schedule. However, not all Cohort C students are happy about it

Junior Martina Kernosh, who is part of Cohort C, explained, “It was a complete shock…the students were not consulted at all before making the decision.” 

Junior Charlotte Leibfreid agreed and added, “It doesn’t make sense that the people most affected in the school [the students] wouldn’t get to decide what’s best for them.” 

However, sophomore Danielle Nugent, who is part of Cohort B, was hopeful and said, “It makes it seem like we are one step closer to getting back to a normal schedule or school year.” 

But Martina, after hearing the news for the first time, instantly decided she had to email the school board. She explained, “I just think this change to get as many students back in school is negligent of almost a third of the students that are virtual and are really being pushed to the wayside, but they are the ones who are struggling the most in my opinion.” 

Other students who felt as passionate as Martina did, like junior Alison Randa, who is in Cohort B, also considered emailing. She said, “I wanted to email because Mondays were vital in helping to give us a screen break. It’s just so very exhausting to sit in front of a screen for hours each day…the district is taking away this vital resource and leaving the students and staff with more unnecessary stress.” 

However, as Martina explained, she believes that any change is unlikely, but she said, “I really just wish they would have sent out a survey or something like we always do with other changes.” 

Other students who found asynchronous Mondays helpful, like junior Madeline Murphy, who is in Cohort C, explained, “I liked them because they helped me to get work done independently without having to worry about attending a scheduled call.” 

Although Danielle said she felt the opposite: “Any time I had a meeting on Monday I would find myself feeling less engaged…It would just make me not want to do schoolwork…and I would be just more eager to get out of class.” 

However, even critics of the change saw some benefits. They agreed that this change definitely creates a feeling of normalcy that the students and staff alike have been longing for — for so long. Martina explained, “I think it’s great that we are trying to get kids back into school, and it really will be an easier schedule since it’s now the same schedule Monday through Friday, but we have to give equal attention to the virtual cohort as well.” 

Charlotte also saw some potential benefits to the change. “The fact that Monday’s schedule was different would kind of throw me off. It also doesn’t help me keep a good sleep schedule,” she said.

When all of these students were asked about the new Monday red and black day schedule, however, it was unanimous, despite their cohort. Danielle said, “Yeah, it’s definitely going to be stressful for teachers and students who have different red and black day schedules.” 

Martina added, “It seems confusing…are there ways that we could do it that wasn’t so confusing, yes, but are we gonna do them, no, and that goes back to how we are really centered around only the kids in school.” 

Charlotte agreed and said, “I dislike the fact that we have to switch every Monday between Red and Black. If there was a way to get around that I would be more open actually to the idea of synchronous Mondays.”