The addition of a dedicated advisory and enrichment period has been one of the best post-pandemic adjustments that have been made at Whitney Young, but recent changes may have started to make life difficult for students and teachers alike.

In the two years after school returned to in-person instruction after COVID-19 shutdowns, the enrichment and advisory period has always been the last of the day, starting at 2:40 and ending at 3:15. Enrichment has always been a good time to deepen one’s understanding of a subject, talk to a teacher, or just have a chance to work on homework. Enrichment programs help students to succeed in school, better their mental health, and decompress after their classes (City of Chicago).

But at the start of this year, the enrichment period was moved to always be after the first block of the day, starting at 9:35 instead of 2:40. Athletes and students involved in extracurriculars are heavily impacted by this change, as leaving early for activities has become much more costly. “Before, I could miss enrichment or advisory, which wasn’t as important and was the best time to leave early for sports. Now I have to miss part of a class, which means I have to make up work and can get left behind,” commented Jett Johnson, a 12th grader. 

Clubs have also felt the pressures of the new schedule, as they are more restricted now than before. “Last year, we were able to meet for a little longer if we wanted or organize times after school to work on posters for the cultural fair, but we don’t have that luxury anymore”, said Polish Club co-founder Adrian Pitzele. Students taking tests don’t have as much wiggle room, spending time with friends and coming up with plans before school ends isn’t as easy, and the chance to get started on homework given that same day before one goes home also isn’t possible because of the time change. 

Teachers with 7th and 8th periods now need to be ready for students leaving their classes after 45 minutes because they have a game or competition, a non-issue last year. “I think the changes work out well for folks who have the early lunch period,” added Chemistry and Biotechnology teacher Ms. Clark. “Students have been coming in for academic support about the same this year compared to last year, but athletes are missing class more often during the last part of the day.” Advisors also need to break away from their normal subjects in the middle of the school day to oversee advisory, rather than being able to focus on their normal routine from 8:00 a.m. to 2:40 p.m.

While the change is negative for some, it isn’t all bad. Students that have Block A lunch, no longer have to eat at 9:40. The 40 minutes of enrichment or advisory pushes their lunch back to a more reasonable 10:20. This change also falls better in line with recent Chicago Public Schools policy that requires lunches to be served no earlier than 10:00 a.m. 

Overall, the new timing for the enrichment and advisory period has created some sticky situations for students. It’s likely that not much can be done since the schedule has been finalized for some time now, but it’s still important to understand how these changes have already affected students and what problems they can be expected to cause in the future.