At the beginning of second semester, the principal decided to remove Falcon Flight Time from the Wednesday schedule in order to give students more time in their 6 regular classes. This changed a part of the schedule that many students were starting to get used to.

Falcon Flight Time allowed students to go to any classroom to finish their school work, get help from teachers, go to their club, or to just relax and hangout with friends if their work was already finished. Trinity Cates, a senior, wants to share her thoughts, “I used that time to meet with my club because Tuesdays and Thursdays are time for me to do my school work,” Cates says, “And Wednesdays were dedicated to clubs.” While administrators claimed the decision was to increase students class time, there have been many mixed feelings around campus about whether the change was necessary. 

Some students viewed the free period as a break from a stressful and busy school week. With busy schedules, extracurricular activities, stress about submitting college applications, struggling with their credit recovery, many students were grateful for the break and having some time to reset. Kbreelyn Karuo, a senior, thinks that Falcon Flight Time was very helpful, “The biggest benefit was getting my work done, and if I didn’t have any work from my 6 classes,” Karuo says, “I would use that time to work on my credit recovery.” 

However, not all students enjoyed Falcon Flight Time. Some of them felt like it was poorly structured, with students using it as a time to socialize instead of focusing on their missing work. Especially with Falcon Support on Tuesdays and Thursdays, they felt as if they didn’t need Falcon Flight Time on Wednesdays.

As our school proceeds along without Falcon Flight Time, students are readjusting back to the old Wednesday schedule with longer instructional periods and less breaks. Whether this change will improve or worsen academic performance remains to be seen throughout the rest of this semester. Falcon Flight Time is now one of the reminders of how small changes in the schedule can have a huge impact on students and their work.