What are the challenges with this schedule?

One of the most discussed challenges with advisory is the overall negative view from some students regarding the lessons. In a poll done by the Hawk Eye, 44.6% of students said they did not find advisory necessary. Boughton, Coen and Perkins plan to get student input within the coming years with the goal of making the lessons more engaging.

“I do not like wasting people’s time,” Boughton said. “Some of the lessons did that, and I want to alleviate that as much as possible.”

With 17 minutes added for every advisory lesson, some teachers, such as English teacher Hannah Wheeler, worry that the loss of 18 minutes to cover the same requirements will cut into second period. 

“There’s a lot of things we need to get done that are state mandated, and I don’t want that to take away from class time,” Wheeler said. “If advisory were to go away, I don’t know where we’d find the time to get those lessons done.”

Another issue comes from the changing bell schedule with the implementation of club and pep rally days. One of the reasons the school chose to have advisory every day was due to teacher complaints about the confusion of multiple schedules, but a consistent schedule would not be in place if club time or pep rallies were to be during the school day.

“We’re trying to take what’s required, make it effective and make as many people happy as possible,” Boughton said. “Educators are inherently very scheduled, and different bell schedules can frustrate that. Having that one consistent thing — it’s better for everyone.”

During a poll done by the Hawk Eye asking those against the restriction of advisory why they felt that way, the majority said it was due to needing a break or time to get some homework done during the day. The general consensus of the 102 students polled is to limit advisory lessons while keeping the time for WebEx tutoring, asking teachers questions or getting homework done. Boughton said she agreed with those concerns, and shared similar worries about the loss of time. 

“It’s good for [students] to have a minute to breathe each day,” Boughton said. “But with AP classes, fine arts and sports, when are they supposed to find time? Sitting down at 10 p.m. to finally have a breather is just not enough.” 

Others think that the allotted time for advisory, if kept, should be modified in a different way, with 50.5% of students and faculty against the restrictions — many of them claiming the time would have been better as tutoring time. 

“[Advisory] definitely needs to be modified,” English teacher Donna Friend said. “Kids aren’t using it for study hall. It’s downtime, and sometimes we need that, but it would be more beneficial to use that as tutoring. If we’re taking out time in our schedule for advisory, we should use it to the best of our ability.”

Boughton plans to devote specific staff training about the allotted advisory time in August, and said she does so in hopes of stopping teachers from teaching through that time. 

“I want to make sure teachers are valuing that time and honoring that,” Boughton said. “[Students] need a minute to get caught up, or at least to take a breath. I’m going to make sure they have that time — even if it’s just 17 minutes.”