New Bell Schedule for Second Term Announced

By Wayland Zhu
Staff Writer | The Pacific Times

NP3 High School administration recently announced a new bell schedule for the second half of the 2021-22 school year.

The new schedule will be implemented for the second term, starting Jan. 3. The term ends on May 27.

One of the most noticeable changes is the passing time between periods has been shortened from seven minutes to five minutes.

Another change to the schedule is that each class is five minutes longer. Because of the longer class periods, advisory and tutorial times have both been shortened.

“The schedule has always had five minutes passing periods,” said Giao Villallobos, a secretary at NP3 High School.

Prior to the pandemic, passing time between classes was five minutes. With the return of in person learning, the time between classes became longer to ease students into the transition from online learning to in person learning.

“The seven minute passing period was to ease students into the transitional period,” Stacy Asher added. “It was also implemented to give students more time to eat a snack or go to the restroom. After surveys sent out to students and teachers and conversations with both, we believe that we navigated through the transitional period.”

Reactions on the schedule change were mixed among students.

“I liked the longer breaks, but I’d rather the breaks be a bit shorter,” said Berkeley Boyd, a senior at NP3.

Added junior Jack Fedor, “The seven minute passing period was unnecessary. It makes it feel like a break.”

Teacher Karen Rice said, “I like the extra content minutes added into the new schedule.”

The new schedule can be found by clicking here.