C.H.S. was the only school in the greater Charlottesville area this year that didn’t do virtual school for 7 hours a day including asynchronous. The extra four hours students gained due to the unique schedule has been a useful period for some to get extra school work done, work a job, or just get extra sleep, and though it was nice to have some extra time, in person school couldn’t follow the same schedule. But how will this affect student’s schedules and their lives? 

Regardless of if we chose to go in person or not, live school will be 9-4, Monday through Thursday for the rest of the year. Since 50% of students polled preferred the previous schedule,  it’s safe to say that a lot of students were enjoying the treat of an extra couple of hours in the morning. “I won’t have as much time to work at my own pace in the morning because of classes,” said Junior Meg Gist about switching from the 4 hour schedule. This new schedule will also mean the return of work buildup and loss of time for athletes who spend their afternoons at practice, and those who work in the afternoon will also have to spend their nights making up for work time we previously had in the mornings. And lastly, the few who used their extra morning hours to work a job will have to completely rework their schedule, and lose the free afternoons they got to enjoy during the first three quarters. “I really value my time in the mornings to not only exercise in town, but also to get last minute homework done and go outside. Because of the 9:00-4:00 change, I won’t be able to run as much,” said Renee Lyman about the loss of extra time in the mornings. 

In the end, there’s nothing we can really do about it, the virtual school schedule had just as many flaws as it did benefits. However, many students are going to miss having free mornings, and at least we still don’t have class on Fridays.