Starting school away from the building may not be the only unordinary predicament NAHS students face heading into the 2020-21 school year. APS unveiled a new class schedule that has further changed the manner we will go about our education amid this pandemic, with the switch being made to a four by four block schedule. This sudden change has brought about mixed opinions around the North Atlanta community, as the recently introduced schedule has received both praise and criticism by students.

Now one week into the school year, students have had time to evaluate their thoughts and feelings about a reorganized class schedule that now introduces a four class per semester (rather than eight) set up. Students now take each class every day for one semester, with the schedule turning over to a new quartet of classes in 2021. Junior Michael Yim certainly had a unique perspective of his own following the announcement, as his experience with taking an everyday class in his freshman year allowed him to offer an interesting point of view on the matter. “Taking double math is really similar to what we’re doing this year,” Yim said. “We have less time to do homework, which makes it difficult, but I’m definitely enjoying the continuity of my everyday classes.”

Going into high school is certainly a challenging time for us all, but that especially holds true for the Class of 2024. Starting their high school careers in the middle of a pandemic is a challenge in and of itself, but the new schedule change is a test they clearly weren’t expecting to tackle. These newcomers have been forced to quickly adapt to a completely new school and schedule away from the building. Freshman Holden Cooley sided against the four by four schedule, expressing his concern with the brief breaks in between classes. “The time we have between classes is way too short for me,” he said. “I’ve had my fair share of internet problems, and sometimes it’s hard to transition to the next class because I’m still focused on the previous one.”

The new four by four schedule is something that caught a lot of students off guard, especially upperclassmen, who were fully adjusted to the typical A Day B Day agenda. Obviously having its own ups and downs, the new change is something that NAHS students have yet to be able to unilaterally side for or against. It’s been stated that the change is by no means permanent. But the current experience only further verifies that 2020 is the year of unremitting change.