In response to a new policy set by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) last May, the district’s high schools are beginning ten minutes later in the morning and concluding the day at four o’clock.
The change was due to a North Carolina law regulating instructional time and the total number of hours students receive throughout the year. The law requires at least 185 days, or 1,025 hours, of instructional time.
The state mandates that instructional hours must take place between the Monday closest to August 26 and the Friday closest to June 11. Elementary and middle schools have struggled in recent years to meet the instructional requirements due to inclement weather, such as snow and hurricanes, prompting changes across all schools in the district.
The district’s elementary schools now run from 7:20 a.m. to 2:20 p.m., while the middle schools now run from 8:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.
Students at Chapel Hill High School largely seem to be in favor of the new schedule.
“I love the extra time in the morning. It doesn’t seem like a lot of time, but I swear you can tell the difference,” sophomore Aaron Williamson said.
English teacher Kimberly Jones also appreciates the new schedule, noting that the later start has reduced the number of late arrivals to her first-period class.
“I like the new schedule. The extra ten minutes have brought down tardy numbers, and the day doesn’t seem any shorter,” she said.
At least one parent also appreciated the extra time in the morning the new schedule affords her kids.
“I love the new schedule, especially for my middle schoolers: it gives them more time to get ready in the morning,” Jill Berman, parent of two McDougle Middle School students and one Chapel Hill High School student, said.
For his part, principal Charles Blanchard said he has noticed very few changes as a result of the altered schedule.
“The only change I’ve seen from the new schedule is that buses are actually here and on time in the morning,” he said.
Sophomore Carter Grubbs, like Blanchard, said he’s hardly noticed the change.
“If you didn’t tell me there was a new schedule, I wouldn’t even have noticed,” he said. “I guess the extra sleep is nice.”
