High school principal Dr. John Sherrill introduced a new PrimeTime schedule last year to make time for tutorials, studying, assemblies and club meetings. This year, he has removed the PrimeTime period entirely and lengthened the remaining eight class period from 42 minutes to 50 minutes.
The old schedule should be brought back for the sake of students and teachers.
PrimeTime gave all students 30 minutes to go to teachers for tutorials and help on homework as needed. Before PrimeTime there was success, and before that there was RTI. Therefore, all high school students have had a period like PrimeTime their entire high school career. Though there is an extra eight minutes in each class after PrimeTime was removed, that is still not enough time. Many students may not be able to stay after school or come in before school for help due to extracurricular activities or having to ride the bus, so those students might not have a ride home or a way to arrive early. Because of this, grades will likely drop.
Last year there was a total of eight students who qualified for state UIL. They used PrimeTime for UIL practices. Now that their practice time has been taken away, the UIL sponsors will have to find a different time to meet with their members. This will make it difficult for students with additional priorities to find this time.
The journalism department has relied heavily on PrimeTime to conduct interviews, take photos and film for W.I.N. News. Newspaper, yearbook, and broadcast staff used PrimeTime to find students to interview students without interrupting instructional time. With students’ busy schedules, deadlines are already difficult to meet. Now they will have a new weight on their shoulders that PrimeTime would usually relieve. Not only will this affect staff members’ grades for their assignments, but also the quality and timing of production of news and information the school needs.
The biggest concern from teachers is that PrimeTime was not well structured and it was taking away from instructional time; however, many students would use their time wisely to do school work.
This new schedule has many flaws that will cause struggles among both teachers and students. It was asked that PrimeTime be better structured and adjusted to ensure students are taking care of their business, not removed. The school’s motto is “above all, student success,” but taking away this period challenges this value and will ultimately do more harm than good.