For returning Westborough High School students, there has been one noticeable change compared to last year. A new schedule has been implemented for the 2025-2026 school year designed to change the flow of the day. Although the start and end times of the school day have not been altered, each class has been extended by one minute. While some are excited about the change, others are confused, and don’t understand why these changes have been made. According to Westborough High School Principal Brian Callaghan, what prompted these modifications was concerns and data collected from staff and students. The first comments that suggested a change were about three to four years ago, but only over the past year have there been actual efforts to maximize student experience and achievement by altering the schedule.
There have been two major changes to the schedule. The first one is the elimination of flex time at the end of the school day. Last year, period six classes were let out at 2:30 PM, and students could use the next seven minutes to attend club meetings, get extra help by visiting teachers, or make up missed work before buses left at 2:37. Although flex time was helpful to many, in the data Callaghan referred to, the vast majority of students were not utilizing it, and were going home instead. Although the loss of flex time added only one minute to each period, Callaghan stated that “adding one minute to every period actually increases time on learning by three hours for each period over the course of a full year.” This has maximized learning throughout 100% of the students, instead of only that small percentage of students who utilized the seven minute flex time provided by the old schedule.
Following that, the second change is break time being moved earlier in the day. In previous years, break began at 11:00 AM, directly after third period, but starting this year break begins at 10:04 AM, after second period. When questioned about the reasoning behind this change, Mr. Callaghan explained that it had to do with food waste during lunches because break was too close to lunch, and food scarcity issues with students. If students weren’t eating breakfast, or ate around 7:00 AM, then they would go four hours before having another chance to eat at break, an issue the administration was concerned about and felt like they could take action on with the time change.
Students have a variety of opinions and concerns on the new layout of the school day. When asked about her opinions on the changes made Arianna Ahmed, a senior at WHS, said that “if you play a sport, trying to make it to the bus for an away game has been really difficult because we no longer have flex time, so we get out later.” A lot of buses leave at 2:45 for away games, and because students are now dismissed from their last period later, they have less time to get ready. “I have after school commitments, and now I don’t have time to go home, get ready, and readjust before going to them,” adds Sadie Chong, a junior. In response to the new break time, Brian Levine, a junior at WHS says that “As someone who has third lunch, having such a long stretch of time between break earlier in the morning and lunch after fifth period has been difficult.” Despite some apprehensive feelings and surprise towards the new schedule, students have stated that they are all ready to adapt and give it a chance.
The new schedule has mixed opinions throughout the student body, while administration is just attempting to maximize learning and do what’s best for students and staff. The administration is always open to hear everyone’s opinions, and as Callaghan stated “there is always a chance for future adjustments”. As the school year unfolds, students and teachers alike will continue to adjust to the new schedule, and the effectiveness of the changes will become clearer.
