The early results are in: New schedule decreases number of tardies

The school’s new bell schedule has resulted in a 31 percent reduction in tardies so far this year, according to attendance secretary Mandy Armes.

As of Oct. 26, the school had recorded a total of 1,405 tardies as opposed to 2,031 at the same point last year — a drop of 626.

Assistant principal Brian Thompson attributes this reduction to the later start time and a shorter lunch that keeps students closer to campus.

He also sees students doing a better job of making it to class on time after the daily morning tutorial.

Now that school starts at 8:15 rather than 7:50, students who had many tardies last year are finding themselves getting to class on time in the morning. Senior Veena Arvind was one of those students who was frequently rushing to class in the morning. This year she is able to leisurely make it to class on time far more often.

“I’ve always been the person to do everything in the morning from showering to packing to last-minute cramming,” Arvind said. “Last year, I would wake up at around 6:30 to 7 a.m. and scramble to get to school on time, but the extra time gives me just enough time to get things accomplished in the morning as well as getting to school on time.”

According to Thompson, who often directs traffic in the parking lot before school, the decrease in morning tardies also results from the larger time window in which parents can drop off their kids.

“Last year, our traffic rush was during a 7-minute window. This year, families are dropping off during a 15- to 20-minute window in the morning,” Thompson said.

One of the major concerns over this year’s new schedule was that both SHS and Redwood Middle School now have the same start time of 8:15.

But this conflict is one most parents seems to have worked out. Senior Roy Lee said students with siblings at Redwood are often pushed to come to school much earlier than last year.

“I think that if you always have to carpool with your sibling, the schedule conflict will definitely make you come earlier to school,” Lee said. “It looks like the new schedule has definitely helped keep tardies down this year.”