At the close of the 2020-2021 school year, the Riverdale administration surveyed the Upper School student body in hopes of tailoring future school years to students’ liking. The survey asked students about their preferences on start time, the time between classes, the length of each class period, and the amount of classes per week. For the entirety of the last school year and part of the school year before that, Riverdale adapted to a schedule that accommodated a later start time, fewer classes per week, and more time between classes. However, despite many students opposing the decision, the Riverdale administration has now returned to the pre-Covid-19 schedule. 

With this abrupt return to an obsolete schedule, The Riverdale Review organized an open discussion among the editorial staff focusing on the challenges of the current schedule. Many students argued that after a hybrid-learning year, returning immediately to a jam-packed schedule has resulted in less sleep and increased stress among the student body. Students also agreed that five minutes between classes on a sprawling campus has always been unsustainable and is even more difficult after a year of Zoom. Additionally, a sizable portion of students agree that advisory periods should meet less frequently, giving activities like The Review increased meeting time. 

Lastly, with illness pervading our campus for much of the first quarter, many students desired to meet the Riverdale guidelines and stay home with any form of symptoms. However, with this year’s intensified schedule, increased rigor, and a limited amount of Zoom availability, students feel increased pressure to attend in-person classes under any circumstances. 

Riverdale believed that offering Zoom classes would cause an unfair playing field among students and ultimately slow down the return to entirely in-person classes. That being said, after pushback from the community, the administration revised its Zoom policy, making Zoom classes available to absent students after one day at home. 

We understand the administration’s concerns with Zoom, as it would likely be an abused and misused privilege. Still, we believe that the school should be more conscious that it is difficult for students to handle staying home when sick to protect the health of the entire school while also staying caught up with our schoolwork. 

The administration saw this school year as an opportunity to return to so-called “normalcy”; however, they may not have realized that nothing has changed more than normalcy itself. In hopes of change, Head of Upper School Mr. Tom Taylor stated that students would have another opportunity to express their schedule concerns at the end of this year. We worry, though, that our voices will not be heard, as our previous desires did not result in any change. 

Before we packed our bags in March of 2020, complaints surrounding the time between class periods and the schedule, in general, were present. Now, after experiencing over a year of hybrid learning, addressing these complaints has become a necessity, not just a desire.