Does zero period start too early?

The question some zero period students have is “Does zero period start too early?” Personally, I would rather have a longer school day after sixth period than getting up early in order to make it to an a 7:08 a.m. class. But, I wondered how many of my fellow zero period classmates felt the same way?

Trying to complete all graduation requirements means that many CVHS students need to enroll in zero period classes, which start an hour earlier than the rest of the school schedule.

For the 2018-2019 school year, regular classes begin at 8:10 a.m., while zero period classes starts at 7:08 a.m. Students taking Pathways, playing a musical instrument or taking additional language classes find themselves getting up even earlier in order to make it to school on time.

Perhaps it would be better to have a seventh period after sixth, but for students who play sports or participate in after school activities, this would create conflicts with sports practices, after school jobs, and other activities.

I decided to get some answers to the following question: “If you had a choice, would you prefer to have a  zero period class or a seventh period class?”

“I would rather have a seventh period, but the problem would be sports. People might miss after school practices and stuff,” said junior Devin Green.

“What about the fact that zero period starts five minutes later this year? Has that made any difference?” I asked.  

Green replied, “Yes I think it is more helpful. Gives me a bit more time to get to school from home.”

I asked junior Katie Francisco the same questions and she replied, “Probably a zero period because I have extracurricular activities. No difference on starting five minutes later.”

Junior Precilla Lee felt that having zero period start five minutes later has been helpful, even though school ends five minutes later. As far as her thoughts on a seventh period, Lee simply said, “I would rather have a zero period.”

Unfortunately, not very many of my fellow zero period classmates agreed with me. I seemed to be the only student who preferred having a seventh period to zero period.

Based on the interviews I conducted, students felt that getting up early and having a zero period class instead of staying later for a seventh period class was far better, as zero period classes did not interfere with their after school activities.