I remember the last day I attended school in person was in March last year. I was clueless about how big of an impact this pandemic was going to make. Since then, PHS has made big adjustments to accommodate the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Between online learning and the new system for assignment submissions, students like me at Princeton High School have experienced a radically different school year. Some of the smaller changes made by the school, although the students might not realize it, have impacted students in an unfortunate way. The frequent changes in the schedule from hybrid to remote leave students confused and frustrated, negatively impacting their learning.

Before the pandemic hit, PHS students were habituated to a consistent schedule, and the same 8:20 a.m. start times every day meant that students like me rarely missed classes in the morning But now, due to the irregular start times, students are experiencing the adverse physical effects, which are supported by biological research and not just figments of our imaginations.

Our circadian rhythms, or biological clocks, tell us when our bodies need rest and when they are ready to wake up. Alarms are most commonly used to counter the rhythms when we need to wake up earlier than usual. In past school years, I’ve woken up on time without issue. However, this  year, I have slept through my alarms most of the time, and, based on what I have heard from my fellow classmates, my struggles with waking up are not an isolated phenomenon. Constantly resetting our circadian rhythms can not only damage our bodies but also can cost us academically when we fail to reset quickly enough. Absences or tardies can be detrimental to a student’s profile, putting them at risk of falling behind and potentially harming their peers and teachers’ impression of them.  Furthermore, asking students to attend an earlier class at 8:20 when they were used to the 9:00 start time from the beginning of the year can decrease their performance in school because of increased fatigue and stress in addition to decreased concentration and alertness.

As days and weeks alternate between hybrid and remote, the time when school ends changes as well. Students across all grades attend activities after school such as sports practices, tutoring sessions, music lessons, and club meetings, and these are disrupted by the unpredictable changes in the schedule. For instance, I attend piano lessons right after school on Mondays; however, the recent changes to the remote schedule have forced me to miss them. This in turn causes inconvenience to my piano teacher and interferes with my musical progress. Although it could be argued that these changes have no academic effect within school, it is important to not overlook the benefit of extracurricular activities on students’ personal development. These skills, ranging from greater physical ability to better communication, are often not gained in school and are impeded by constant schedule changes.

Constant schedule changes affect many aspects of a student's life, ranging from academics to extracurricular activities to mental health. In the future, I hope that school administrators will consider maintaining the same schedules for both remote and hybrid learning days so that when COVID-19 outbreaks or other inconveniences require all teachers and students to work remotely, there will be minimal disruption for all the students.

Kenneth Fan's Work