Since last school year it has been common knowledge that renovations of the unnamed bridge over the Little Connoquenessing Creek would affect the school year, significantly lengthening the summer from its usual duration.  In addition to that, however, a change to the daily schedule will also be made.

Under the new schedule, each class period will be 41 minutes long.    In previous school years, class periods have lasted 42 minutes.  The 4 minute buffer between periods will remain the same length, so students need not worry about that.

Activity period, running from the end of period 4, will be reduced to 15 minutes. Currently, announcements will last for 4 minutes, running over into the 15 minute activity period.  With the new schedule, both activity period and the announcements will be condensed into a shared time allotment of 15 minutes.

Activity period provides students with nearly 20 minutes to work on homework, prepare for their next class, or even just catch their breath before completing the second half of the school day.

“I think the decision to shorten activity periods is a good one,” said Richter, a sophomore here at Seneca.  “Other than for watching the announcements, that time is pretty much useless.”

Rather than the school day ending at 2:31 PM, it will now end at 2:30 on the dot.

While minor changes such as the 2:30 dismissal time and the 1 minute shorter class periods may provide the sense of a seemingly shortened school day, the biggest difference will certainly be found in the new lunch periods.

Lunch has always been a bit complicated, causing some anxiety to both newcomers and experienced Seneca students alike.  Spread across three periods, lunches are 30 minutes in length and occur in rotations from the end of activity period into 6th period.  Rather than continuing this overly complicated schedule, lunches will be made significantly longer in the coming school year.

This new lunch will be a full 41 minutes, the same length as every other class period. Rather than having students leave for lunch at odd times between fourth and sixth period, an additional ninth period will be added to the day solely for lunch.  Students will have either period 5, 6, or 7 as a designated lunch period.

Before panicking, keep in mind that an extra period is not being added to the school day.  The time gained from activity period and shortening the other 8 periods provides enough time to squeeze another block into the school day without changing its actual length.

Whether these changes may appear as a blessing or a curse, it will certainly have a significant impact on students and teachers alike during the 2017-2018 school year.