C567: Against

Many changes have emerged in the Presentation community since school started, from security cameras to the handful of new faces among the faculty to the eco-friendly utensils in the center. However, one of these major changes—collaboration in the morning—has gotten mixed reviews from the student body. Though implemented to help alleviate stress among the students, C567 has done more harm than good. Arguably, its detrimental effects have added on more stress than before, contrary to its original purpose to let the students get more hours of sleep. Though for now C567 is only scheduled for one day a month, it should not continue to be a regular facet in Presentation life.

One problem with morning collaboration is that students don’t even get that much more sleep with C567 than they do on a normal school day. This especially applies to students who have to commute a longer way from home to school or students who drive themselves to school. These students usually get at most one more hour of sleep than they would on a normal school day, which is not sufficient enough to make up for the lack of sleep that the students have complained about in the past. According to a national traffic survey, the best weekday commuting hour is from 6 to 7 a.m. Particularly in San Jose, morning traffic peaks around 8 a.m. Part of the problem is that more people go to work from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., resulting in bumper-to-bumper traffic and congested freeways during this time. Some students have to get up early anyway in order to beat traffic on the way to school, which is why C567 does not necessarily benefit the entire student body.

Another way C567 has been adding stress is by taking away from time students would normally use to do their homework, meet with teachers, or work on group projects. While opponents would argue that students could just as easily do these things in the morning, several studies have established that teenagers’ body clocks make them very groggy in the morning. An early collab ensures that whatever work they get done during that time will be sub-par.

The other benefit of an afternoon collab is that it grants the students time to apply what they have learned earlier in the day. Doing homework immediately after the class allows students to apply the knowledge they learned while it’s still fresh in their minds.

Collaboration is also a time when students can come in to see their teachers for help, and having collaboration in the morning takes this benefit away from students seeking help. Students can meet with teachers before school starts, but with the busy schedules of both the students and the teachers, afternoon collaboration may be more convenient for both parties. After all, though full-time teachers are required to be at school by 7:30 a.m., many part-time teachers are not here early enough for students to meet with them for help before class starts in the morning.

Most importantly, C567 takes away from the flexibility of a block schedule. Being able to go home at 12:30 especially benefits student athletes who leave for away games in the afternoon and students who have jobs. Students who have jobs also benefit from an afternoon collab because it allows them to sign up to work more hours in the afternoon rather than after 3 p.m. This way, they can go home earlier after work to get started on their homework. Also, if the school day ends at 2:40 on a B day, student athletes may have to leave seventh period early in order to catch the bus, taking away valuable classroom time. Though this may not be an issue this semester, since C567 days fall on Mondays when games are not scheduled, it may be an issue next semester when the administration is planning to have C567 on some Fridays.

C567 may have benefited some students, but on the whole it is a counter intuitive change that most students can do without. Morning collaboration adds to student stress by taking away time students would use to do homework and making students more likely to be tardy in the morning. It also takes away from student-teacher time that is usually available on a 567C day, and not much sleep is returned for all these sacrifices made for a C567 day. C567 is still in its experimental phase, but it should not become a regular part of student life. After all, time is of the essence, and this time has proven to be better spent in the afternoon than in the morning.

C567

This is a huge step forward for Pres. Teenagers have been proven by a number of studies to do better in school when start times are pushed back because their natural body rhythm is to wake up around 10 a.m. By having school start later on these days, students will be able to come to school more refreshed and awake than before, allowing them to focus more in the classroom and enjoy more academic successes. Instead of students being “zombies” in first period, they will instead be more animated because they will have gotten a healthy amount of sleep. 

Furthermore, the once-a-month morning collaborations provide a good compromise between after-school activities and a healthy start time. One common worry with having collaboration at the beginning of the day is that it will make after-school athletic programs impossible. However, C567 days are only scheduled to happen once a month, as well as on days that have been determined to inconvenience athletes the least, so they will not significantly interfere with the schedules of those students who do play sports. 

Even those who don’t want to use the time for sleeping in can reap benefits from the new policy. Students can use the time in the morning to finish up homework or meet with a teacher before school to ask questions. The extra block of time can also be used to work on a project. Students can even just relax and take some time off before school starts by reading or otherwise enjoying themselves. 

Overall, this new policy has the potential to enact some real change here at Pres. If this trial run succeeds, it could improve academic performances as well as overall health. Now that students can catch an extra hour or so of sleep, there will be fewer complaints about sleep deprivation circling throughout the hallways—and, if people use their time wisely, fewer test-induced panics as well.