By Ingrid Yeung ‘23
St. Mark’s has always been a fond advocate for a balanced schedule of academic, athletic, and extracurricular activities. With growing emphasis on students’ well-being, St. Mark’s strives annually to improve the schedule for better student experiences. Recently, the school conducted a survey asking students about their overall energy level and sleeping time on an average school day, and the result was shocking. It is shown that the average student here goes to sleep around midnight and gets an average of six and a half or seven hours of sleep per night. In correlation with this sleeping data is the overall energy level of students. The trend shows that students have low energy levels throughout the day. As a result of this data, the school decided there was a need for change in the schedule. Students are going to sleep too early, which directly lowers their energy levels. Therefore, the school is looking forward to changing the schedule to better student experience in the following weeks by adding one more color block at night, extending study hall hours, and starting school earlier each day.
Right now, the regular St. Mark’s school day ends at 3:05 PM on weekdays, with an exception on Wednesday with an early end due to athletic competitions. Students have no academic obligations after their last commitment and have excessive free time outside of athletic practices. Students often do not make good use of their time, spending it on leisure activities, which in turn causes their fatigue. Therefore, after careful discussions among the deans, the school’s administration has decided to add another color block, the Pink block, to our regular schedule. Pink Block will run from 6:00 to 7:20 PM, with the length of our standard long block. Not an addition to class, the Pink Block is an additional supplement block for the main courses: English and Math. Pink Block will meet four times a week, except for Wednesday, with two blocks of English and two blocks of math. With this new addition to the schedule, the students get a more fulfilling St. Mark’s academic experience. In addition to the new Pink Block, SM will extend study hall hours to enhance student performance. The standard study hall time runs from 7:30 PM- 9:30 PM, which is barely enough for students to finish homework. Extending study hall hours into 10:30 PM, the school hopes to allow students to develop their academic interests and use the time efficiently for extra studying. Those changes all increase students' time dedicated to academics, but the one last change that SM will make will substantially decrease the number of sleep students get and enhance their performance at school. Instead of starting school at 8:00 AM, the first color block of the day will begin punctually at 7:30 AM. The 30 minutes less sleep does not seem like much, but it can determine the student's overall energy level. Since students are sleeping way too early, causing fatigue, the school’s hopes that adjusting the schedule will create a better student experience.
