Biddeford High School is not unfamiliar with change recently. With a new principal, who has a bunch of promising concepts, including one that seems to be quite controversial among students. The idea of changing how students’ schedules are set up is something that holds true for the 2014-2015 year and beyond. With this fairly big change, students are still hesitant about whether or not it will beneficial in the long run.

Many schools in the area already have a schedule like the new one waiting to be put in place. Eight classes all year long, which means a different four every other day. The thought is that students are able to fit in more classes at once rather than having to wait till the second half of the year. Not to mention that along with fitting in more classes, students will have an extra day to complete homework considering the rotating schedule.

But, by introducing this new schedule, students are still unsure about how well they’ll adapt to the change.

We The Roar believe that a new schedule, although meant to be helpful, may only cause some students more stress in the long run. As if four finals at the end of the semester wasn’t enough. Eight finals to study for seems outrageous, but with this sort of schedule that’s what most students will be facing. Being able to balance classes towards the end of the semester, with the studying needed to pass those finals is going to put a lot more pressure on students than four finals did. In all, this could lead to steadily decreasing test grades within the student body.

Likewise, although there are now eight blocks all year long, many find there is still not enough room in their schedule for certain classes. Consider the classes that have multiple levels. One level must be taken before the student can move onto the next level. But, finals are now only at the end of the year, so if that student is a senior they wouldn’t have the opportunity to take the class because they won’t be there. This leads to problems such as students having less credits than they could have, and not having that class they need for something after high school, like college or work.

However, there are some positives within the new schedule that students have been overlooking. For example, the schedule allows students to practice balancing more classes at once, which is helpful for those who plan to go to college. Also, many forget that there is always going to be two days to do an assignment rather than having it due the next day because of the rotating classes. This gives students more opportunity to be able to complete and hand in papers on time, which in turn presents grade improvement.

With student input and cooperation, the administration is sure to consider whether or not the new schedule is actually improving the school and work ethic of students. Whether or not the new schedule will be successful will be based upon how students work with it, and how much improvement is seen within the school. For now, the new schedule will be put into play in the fall of 2014, with no talk about ever returning to the previous schedule.