While Patriots generally look forward to the end of the quarter, it seems as though the end of the second is always the most dreaded. For starters, the weather has drastically changed and seasonal clothing has been exchanged for something a little bit warmer. After that, Patriots can look forward to midterms, which routinely add stress to Patriots’ already stressful day. This year, the quarter’s end will come with a twist.  

From January 27 to January 31, rather than just ditching the block week entirely, like what has been done in the past, Patriot Period will remain. On Wednesday and Thursday, Patriot Period will still be included in the regularly scheduled school day. This was recently brought into the limelight after years of complaints from teachers.

“So the idea was that we have had a tradition here that the teachers requested of not having Patriot Period during the last week of the quarter, and that comes from the fact that teachers wanted equality among their classes in terms of seeing them regularly throughout the week,” Assistant Principal Scott McKeown said.

While this may seem like an impossible task to pull off without the typical block schedule, once explained how the school day will work, it is really not that complicated. Rather than including block scheduling, each class throughout the day will be slightly shorter, giving an opportunity for Patriot Period without having to extend the day.

“That way it accomplishes the goal of having Patriot Period for extra help, but it also accomplishes the teacher’s goal of seeing all their kids every day,” McKeown said.

Whether this schedule will continue in the future remains to be seen. At the moment, McKeown described this week as almost like a guinea pig.

“I think we’re sort of testing it out,” McKeown said.

“Not being in the classroom right now, I’m going to trust the teacher’s judgment on it because they’re the ones who are on the ground and know what their kids need. One thing teachers and students have in common is they want to make sure all that work gets in at the end of the quarter to get grades up, so I trust the teacher’s judgment on this one,” McKeown said.

A typical end of quarter schedule means no block scheduling. Now, in a trial and error type run, students will not get double-sized first, second, seventh and eighth periods, but rather shorter classes on Wednesday and Thursday with a much-craved study hall in the middle.