Next year, the 2024-2025 school year, the Glenbard School District will implement a block schedule. In this schedule, Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays will be regular eight period class periods with Panther Hour on Mondays and Fridays. Wednesdays and Thursdays will be block schedules with 90 minute periods. Glenbard schools will also start the school day at a later time; 8:00-3:00. There are mixed opinions and reactions about this new schedule from students, from getting used to the schedule in general to worrying about staying in a class for 90 minutes.
The block schedule in general has mostly negative reactions from the students. Some believe that it will lead to students being disengaged in class and with their classwork. When Gabriel Kish, ‘25, was asked about the schedule he reiterated one of the main concerns of being disengaged by saying, “I don’t think that the block schedule is the best idea for school next year. The reason is that due to the longer class periods, students will most likely be less engaged with their learning and class work.” Other students also have shared the same concern, and also added on about how many students could be disorganized and be thrown off because of the schedule. As Alyssa Passero, ‘25, said, “I personally really dislike the idea of a block schedule. I think the school is doing the right thing trying to improve our education, but I think this block schedule is the wrong way to go about it. The longer class periods will only make it harder to focus, as some students cannot sit there listening to a single subject for a long period of time. Also with having some classes, on some days and not others it will lead to disorganization, and it will really throw a lot of people off.” Since this is a completely new schedule, students will need to learn to adapt to the new schedule. Malachi Evans, ‘25, shared his thoughts on this, “The block schedule is horrible. It disrupts the routine students have built for years. As a junior, there have been lots of changes around the school schedule. Students who have difficulty focusing in a 48 minute class period will definitely struggle in a class period that is 90 minutes.”
There are also concerns about the new start time since school is set to start at 8:00 am and end at 3:00 pm. On PLC days on Tuesdays, school would end at 2:19 pm. Andrew Breslauer, ‘25, said, “I don’t think it’s that big of a deal but I can see how it messes with a lot of students’ schedules since it moves to 8 o’clock. I think that spending another 30 minutes is kind of crazy though and they don’t need to be doing all that to our schedule.” The whole time change could interfere with students’ set routine and would take them a while to get used to. Extracurriculars would have to run a bit longer into after school hours since school is ending a bit later. However, students do like the idea of school starting a bit later since students will have the opportunity to sleep a bit longer. Paige Anadiotis, ‘26, said about the change time, “I think the only good reason for this block schedule is that we will have school start later, which means more sleep.”
There are students who like the current schedule with panther hour, since it gives them the opportunity to take tests, get work done and even have free time. Alyssa Passero, ‘25, said, “I think the panther hour idea was a great idea, and this year has been wonderful overall to where I think we should just stick with what we have now. I don’t feel like the block schedule would benefit both staff and students alike. If there are no issues with our schedule now, and we’ve already had improvement in our education, why change it and risk what we already have?”
For now, the schedule is set to be put in place in the 2024-25 school year, with the hybrid block schedule and the new start time.