After the recent two-week One Lunch trial period, many students felt that the right choice by administration would be to keep the new lunch schedule. Adjusting lunch to about an hour for all students at the same time creates benefits that outweigh the cons.
However, inherent difficulties like fight control and overall cleanliness of the hallways due to disruptive and disrespectful students exist; the five percent that cause disruptions should not be the reason this program leaves the school. Students who choose to disrupt this environment should receive greater disciplinary actions, such as out-of-school suspensions.
During the two weeks, it seemed like most students found their place to eat comfortably in places like hallways and classrooms. Lines tended to still be lengthy but were shortened with the alternate option at concessions.
One Lunch essentially benefits every student: they have more time to see friends rather than being forced into an elementary style color-coded cafeteria, greater access to teachers for make up work and tutoring, and a wider range of activities during the 50-minute block.
Athletes had extra time to lift weights or hold team meetings. Seniors with fourth block off especially enjoyed the new program due to the extra time available to go to work or to eat at home. This late in the school year, the availability for seniors to leave helps them prepare for less structured life in college.
In the beginning and throughout, however, the most problematic group seems to be the underclassmen. Some of these students found it difficult to find a space for themselves. After the two weeks, unfortunately, it seemed that the students could handle One Lunch, though some teachers found the new system problematic. The extra duty per day frustrated faculty. Over the period of One Lunch, teachers had specified duties to patrol the halls or hold tutoring session. Many faculty members easily accomplished these tasks, but many also complained about the inherent change.
Though One Lunch is a change to the norm, it allows for greater academic and social aide that together benefit student wellness more than the four-block lunch structure ever did. The accessibility to meditation programs, guidance counselors, and simply the extra time to relax creates a productive start to fourth block.
One benefit administration should consider about continuing One Lunch for this year and years next would be how it would affect SOL testing. With One Lunch, third block would not have to be the longest class of the day during testing.
We commend our administration for testing this program, but feel that the student body would end the school year stronger amidst AP exams, SOL testing, and final exams if One Lunch stayed.