After Thanksgiving Break the daily schedule for students and teachers at Northwood School shifted to “winter schedule.” Northwood is in only its second year of using this iteration of the winter schedule. So, either students are experiencing it for the second time, or the new students are just being exposed to it. Student opinions widely vary.
Anton Sporre ‘18 said that he likes winter schedule. Specifically, he like how it “Gets you going in the morning.” Having practice and or a workout first thing in the morning really prepares you for the day. Anton says he prefers winter schedule over the normal schedule. When asked if he finds it difficult to stay awake in some of the later classes, he responded saying it depends. “If what you are doing in class is not too difficult, it is not that difficult to stay awake,” he said. The only downside of the winter schedule, according to Anton, is that there was more free time in normal schedule, or at least it seemed that way.
Fallou Sylla ‘20 strongly dislikes the winter schedule. He feels “more tired.” Around 4:00 he says his energy wanes. Staying awake during the winter is very difficult he says. Unlike Anton, Fallou feels like the free time in both schedules is about even. Still,
Ninth grader Fallou Sylla does not like winter schedule.
Both Fallou and Anton are in their first year of winter schedule. A seeing that we are only a few weeks in, maybe their opinions will change.
In order to bring some balance, we have also seeked the opinion of Luke Damiano (‘18), who, as a second year student, has been through the winter schedule before. Luke says that he is “indifferent” toward winter schedule. According to Luke, the benefit of winter schedule is starting school late. The downside, however, is having practice early. He supposes this “balances it out.” He does find it hard to stay awake throughout the day after a morning of sports. When it comes to free time, he does feel the normal schedule has more.
