Schedule changes disrupt events and student habits
Camille De BeusStaff WriterOver the span of the last two years, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) pushed forward its calendar, a change that has caused unintended consequences for students and staff.According to Dean of Students Catherine Baxter, Samo administration has been asking to move the calendar forward for about 20 years.Baxter said the new schedule was designed for its practicality, allowing students to take their finals and finish first semester before winter break.Samo now can send seniors’ mid-year transcripts in a timely manner instead of waiting until the last minute, according to Baxter.Baxter said that ending school in the first week of June is also beneficial to many students who are taking classes at Santa Monica College over the summer, interning or working.Advanced Placement (AP) testing always occurs in May, so starting the school year earlier also gives students and teachers involved with APs an advantage.Francesca Crowley (’14) prefers the original calendar.“Moving the school calendar up affected the school year in a negative way, because people were rushed with finals before winter break,” Crowley said. “There wasn’t much time to prepare. Also, I didn’t like starting school in August, because it still seemed like summer.”However, Baxter said the new schedule has some problems. Some students and teachers have complained that first semester is significantly shorter than second semester. Also, events such as Prom, AP testing and concerts are no longer scheduled during the same weeks or months.Janet Coleman-Belin (’15) prefers the new schedule to the old one.“I really like the way [the schedule] turned out,” Coleman-Belin said. “Having finals before winter break was amazing because we could finally have a stress-free winter vacation. Plus, it gives students in APs an advantage in that we aren’t as crunched for time [to prepare] in May because we had an extra week at the beginning [of the school year].”cdebeus@thesamohi.com