With COVID-19 cases rising, one question has been on everyone’s mind:  will The New Providence School District go fully remote again? 

Recently, a new schedule was released to New Providence High School students, families and staff. The schedule will be used if we go back to all remote learning. The new schedule has changes made to fit a full day of school, while being at home. There are many similarities and differences between the new schedule and the current schedule now. 

The new schedule still starts at 8:00 am and ends at 2:54 pm, yet classes are longer. The new schedule removes all afternoon zoom classes, and instead adds 10 minutes onto each class period.

Since each period would be 42 minutes long instead of 32 minutes, lunch will be shortened. With the hybrid schedule now, lunch takes place for an hour, starting at 12:51 pm and ending at 1:51 pm. 

If we are to go back to fully remote learning, lunch will be after fifth period, and will be from 11:42 am to 12:17 pm. That leaves students with only 35 minutes to eat lunch and take a break from school. The other 25 minutes of that hour will be spent as a professional period. During the professional period, teachers can meet with students and students can make up any missing assignments and get extra help. 

There are some concerns about the new schedule. A concern most people are thinking about with the new schedule is: is it healthy to be looking at the screen for that long? Getting only a 35 minute break away from a screen may not be the best for anyone’s eyes. 

According to the South Louisiana Medical Associates the recommended screen limit for teenagers is  “no more than two hours a day.” 

Another concern is that students will be sitting in the same spot for a long period of time. In the all remote schedule, there is a three minute “break” between each period. There really is nothing you can do during those three minutes except quickly go to the bathroom. Sitting in the same spot for a long period of time can also have side effects.

Sitting in the same spot for a long period of time can cause back and spine injuries and problems, low energy, slower metabolism and can affect your mental health. 

Overall, the new schedule is similar to the hybrid schedule the high school is using now, but has some changes that will present big challenges.