To begin the new school year, Loyola students were greeted by an interesting surprise: the return of a pre-COVID bell schedule. Compared to the prior schedule, which ran from 8:25 a.m. to 1:58 p.m. and consisted of four 65-minute class periods, the new schedule forces students to start at 8:15 a.m. and leave at 2:10 p.m., with five 55-minute class periods. This new schedule has stirred up mixed emotions and opinions within the student community.
Maxwell Pieronek ‘26, along with 64.3% of the students who responded to our survey, has issues with the new schedule because of its effect on his homework load.
Pieronek ‘26 explained, “Most of my teachers assigned homework every class during the old schedule, and they continue to do the same. Because of the new schedule, the homework is often due the next day, and there is more of it because they haven’t really adjusted to the shorter class periods. The result is we don’t end up finishing things in class and need to work on them at home. This makes my after-school schedule long and unenjoyable.”
Teachers are also experiencing difficulties with the new schedule. Spanish teacher Kaitlin Collins shared her perspective on the schedule change, “On a positive note, the schedule has guaranteed more contact with my language students in that I will see them three times a week. It’s nice to know that I have that consistency. The difficult part is this schedule feels busy and compact. We did something similar to this before COVID, but I feel like I’m out of ‘schedule shape.’”
Despite adding to the homework load and taking precious sleep time away from commuter students, the schedule also has its positives. On Wednesdays, classes start at 9:30 a.m, 20 minutes later than the prior schedule’s 9:10 a.m. start. On Fridays, there are four class periods rather than five, and school ends at 12:38 p.m..
Boeden Cronkite ‘26 is a fan of the early dismissal on Fridays. He noted, “Getting out early every Friday is really nice and gives me more time to have fun with my friends after school.”
In our survey that yielded 255 responses, many differing opinions surfaced. 36.5% of students like or love the new schedule, 44.8% hate or dislike it, and 18.8% feel neutral. The new schedule has, for better or worse, impacted daily life. These changes leave students, faculty, and staff with one question: do the benefits outweigh the drawbacks?
