Riordan created a new bell schedule, making Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays “Purple Days” and Tuesdays and Thursdays “Gold Days.”
On Purple Days, Upperclassmen start at 8:00 a.m. and end at 1:55 p.m for blocks 1, 2, 3, and 4. Underclassmen start at 9:10 a.m. and end at 3:10 p.m. for blocks 2, 3, 4, and 5. Gold Days reverse block 1 and 5 and thus the start and end times for both, meaning freshmen and sophomores start and end early while juniors and seniors end later.
Vice Principal of Academics Nate Simon ’99 said, “There are two things that have added to our space issues in the past few years. First and obviously is our increased enrollment, but second and maybe less obviously is our desire to support our students who want to get ahead.”
In addition, “Adding a 5th period increased our capacity for classes by 20 percent, so more students got the classes they wanted, and class size didn’t have to balloon. This is good for both students and teachers,” Simon said.
Because of these staggered start days, some students and teachers can get confused as to what time they start or end their day. On the contrary, Diana Assereto, one of the Deans of Academics, believes the new bell schedule is a positive change, saying, “I love the late Monday starts.”
This new schedule also adds a period for academic resource centers or ARC. This free block allows students to have one on one time with teachers or to complete unfinished work. The schedule was designed to benefit all students by giving them more time to manage sports, homework, and other activities.
In addition, the passing periods have been cut from 10 minutes to now 5 minutes. Despite the foot traffic congestion in the halls, everyone is set to getting to class on time and students receive less detention now that they don’t have time to waste.
“No one is bored, everyone knows where they are supposed to be at a certain time and there is less trouble because everyone is focused on getting where they are supposed to be,” said Jen Curtin, Dean of Students.
In regards to athletics, all practices have a start time of 3:30 p.m. and the school can stay open as late as 9:00 p.m. to make sure all sports get gym time or time in the weight room.
The opinions on the new schedule vary.
“In my opinion, I think last year’s schedule was better because we had a routine and every day had the same start and end time. Sometimes it gets confusing knowing when I start or end school,” said Zoie Loui ’27.
Sammie Reese ’28 said, “I overall like the schedule. It’s not bad but it does get confusing compared to my middle school 8-3 schedule.”
The new bell schedule was intended to create a more pliable schedule, allowing students to better manage their time. Over time, students and staff have now adapted to this change in schedule.
