To high school students, school days leave them drained because students prefer to sleep in instead of learning at school. Even though all the days seem exhausting, there is one particular day that leaves the students more tired than usual. That day of the week is Monday, also now known as skinny Mondays. The schedule for these days contains all eight classes – both A day and B day classes. Each class period is about forty-five minutes long with a seven-minute passing period. Instead of having three lunches, there are two lunches- each is about thirty minutes long. School still starts and ends at the same time.

Even though the hours spent at school are the same as any other day of the school week, most students dislike the new schedule because it leaves them both physically and emotionally exhausted after having all eight classes. 

Georgia Lujan, a freshman, feels the effects that Mondays have. “I’m drained. I go home and I just want to take a nap, but I can’t because I have so much homework,” said Lujan.

Because there is homework that needs to be completed for class the next day, it leaves the students stressed. Because of the hybrid schedule, students had an extra day to complete their homework before seeing their teachers. Now, students don’t have that extra time, and they need to change their work ethics to match the new schedule of being in class five days a week. “It’s very stressful. It’s hard to keep up [the homework] considering how the past months have been,” said sophomore Tsione Anteneh.

Along with the amount of homework that is being given, the Mondays feel even longer because most students think that school is over after their first four classes, but they realize that’s not the case. “Normally, for the other four days a week, I’m used to having my last class, 4A, and then being like ‘okay, I get to go home.’ But I have four other classes to worry about on Mondays,” said Lujan.

Like most students, Anteneh finds Mondays tiring. “I feel like it’s a lot for just a few hours. You don’t really learn much in class because you don’t have enough time to do most of the work,” said Anteneh. Because the class periods are only forty-five minutes long, most teachers use this time as a review period. They go over materials that students had learned the previous week and use the class time to answer questions. Not only that, the lunches on Mondays can be hectic and a little too much for students because half of the school is in one lunch period. 

“The lunches are really crowded. Sometimes you can’t find seats, so you’re standing sometimes,” said Anteneh. The cafeteria and courtyards are packed with students. It becomes hectic during lunches.  Although lunches may be crowded, there is an upside that students have a fifty percent chance of getting the same lunch as their friends.

Unlike other students, sophomore Raychel Blocker has a more optimistic view on Mondays. “Honestly, I kind of like them because it feels like the weeks are more even with having two A days and two B days,” said Blocker. The amount of instruction time between A days and B days are the same, so if it ever happens that if school goes back to full online due to COVID, students would be on the same page no matter what day they have the class. 

Because classes have the same instruction time, some students find the new schedule helpful. “I have a couple of friends who are getting more help from it, and their grades are higher the more that they come in person,” said Blocker. The eight classes in one day may leave the students drained, but it does allow the students to be able to get help, if needed, from their teachers. 

“I’m able to go to all my classes, so if I have any questions like for homework, I can get those questions answered on the first day rather than having to wait,” said Anteneh. Under normal circumstances, students who had questions over the weekend couldn’t ask their teachers for help right away if they didn’t have that class on Monday. With the new schedule, students are able to see their teachers, so they are able to get questions answered.

“I like having an even amount of class time each week,” said Lujan. Because students see all their teachers at the beginning of the week, teachers can inform the students about the plans for the upcoming week. That way students can be prepared for the material that they are going to learn that week.

Students generally hate the idea of having all eight classes in one day because it leaves them drained, and that’s a valid reason to dislike the Mondays. Even though the Mondays are tedious, the schedule is meant to help students improve academically. Because we lost so much class time this year due to COVID, being in class three times a week makes up for the instruction that has been lost. With the even amount of instruction time, students have improved their grades. Because students have been on the schedule for a while now, they have become comfortable to change, so Mondays aren’t as bad as they used to be.