Students and teachers have differing opinions about the new quarter system implemented this year for online school.
In the past, the school used a semester system where students had seven classes on their schedule for each semester. The new quarter system is different because there are four classes in the first quarter, and three classes in the second quarter.
Junior Kendall Woody said she likes the new system because it is less stressful for her.
“I like that there are less classes to worry about rather than a full list and being stressed on all classes,” Woody said.
Freshman Dara Weintz said that there are pros and cons to this system of learning.
“I like how we have a lot of independent working time. I don’t like how we have to sit and stare at our screens for four plus hours a day,” Weintz said.
Junior Evi Davenport prefers the quarter system while online, however she has issues with it. She said her main concern is AP classes.
“It’s definitely hard taking AP classes online, especially with the quarter system. It’s hard to focus and there will be a quarter gap, which could potentially harm my AP test scores,” Davenport said.
Teachers also have mixed opinions on the quarter system during online learning. Science teacher Sean Torgoley said that he prefers the quarter system because he thinks it is less tough for students.
“I think if students had their full schedule during online semesters they would be immensely overwhelmed,” Torgoley said.
However, the quarter system has caused math teacher Sam Haug to run into some difficulties with the pace of the classes. He said this is making it hard for him to be able to get to know his students.
“Pacing of course is very fast. Since we are doing double lessons almost daily, the amount of work for students is more than what they are accustomed to having. Not having in-person students makes it tough to get to know the kids we have in class over nine weeks,” Haug said.
Despite these difficulties, Haug said he still prefers the quarter system while online.
“If we are going to be online, I would prefer the quarter system to the whole semester. I think that kids would too. While kids don’t like the course load that is being pushed at them nightly in four classes, it would be much more overwhelming for them if it was seven classes per night,” Haug said.
