Watertown High School restructured the school schedule for the fourth marking period, by reducing the WIN period to extend academic classes and improve the discipline reports. Ms. Tansley, the intern principal, and the Watertown High School teachers hope to see an improvement in the academic success of the school’s community. Many students, though, miss the old WIN schedule.

Ms. Tansley said how she believes the WIN period, which was a 2 hour period including four 30 minute lunches, has affected students’ education and behaviors negatively. Students are not getting the proper amount of instructional time per class, and the discipline reports during the WIN period are problematic. Ms. Tansley believes the new schedule “has strengthened the school’s community with students being more focused during WIN,” rather than behind in schoolwork.

Along with Ms. Tansley, some of the teachers appreciate the change as well. Mr. Miller, one of the math teachers, finds the schedule change effective as he believed the WIN was too long. Cutting the WIN period allowed an extra 8 minutes of educational time for classes that teachers, such as Mr. Miller, found useful towards teaching. 

On the other hand, some students dislike the new schedule. One of those students, Tony Figueroa, finds that the schedule has inconsistencies due to the new lunch schedule affecting WIN times; there are three lunches now. If a teacher and a student have different lunches, they only have a half hour block to meet, when they previously had an hour. Tony had utilized WIN to complete tests and work on assignments from other classes but finds it difficult now since the period has been shortened. The change concerned students with the lack of WIN time, taking 30 minutes away to extend it into educational periods. 

Gaining multiple perspectives on the change and how it has and will affect the school’s community allows a better understanding of why WIN was looked at differently by teachers and students. It’s worth weighing whether and how the change will have impacts on discipline and education. It’s also considerable to see if it’ll be included in next year’s schedule.