DePaul College Prep has started off the 2023-2024 school year with a change to students passing periods. Shifting from 10 to 5 minutes, many students are wondering about the thought process behind these new passing periods. 

In previous years, students would attend school from 7:45-2:50 on a typical day with 10-minute passing periods in between classes. 

The only exception to this schedule was Ram Days in which both classes and passing periods were cut shorter to make room for things such as mass, assemblies, etc. On these days, students were granted 5 minutes to get to and from classes. 

As the 2023-2024 school year begins, DePaul Prep has altered this schedule, with varying passing periods throughout the week. 

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, students are given 10 minutes to get to and from each class. 

On Tuesdays and Thursdays however, students are given 5. 

This change was originally unveiled to student government members at the end of the 2022-2023 school year, then was further spread to DePaul Prep students via an email that went out during the Summer. 

With any changes come opinions, and DePaul Prep students have voiced theirs. 

Senior Hannah Lefebvre shares that she’s still used to the previous 10-minute passing periods. 

“I liked how the passing period was organized in previous years, it feels like now everyone around me is stressed and trying to run to their classes,” Lefebvre states. 

Junior Caroline Hartman adds to Lefebvre’s statements, expressing her confusion with this new adjustment. 

“I don’t really understand why there was a change, students were doing well with the 10-minute passing periods,” Hartman shares. 

In response to these comments as well as many others, Assistant Principal Joe Voss explains the reasoning behind these passing periods. 

Voss explained the main reason behind the five-minute passing periods is rooted in the school’s desire to maintain a productive Advisory/FRESH period. 

“We didn’t want to sacrifice advisory…The counselors had asked for a 40-minute advisory so we kind of had to build the schedule around the advisory being 40 minutes instead of 30,” Voss said. 

He added, “Because of that and also looking to keep our dismissal time at 2:50 to avoid the Lane traffic the only way to make that schedule work was by adding five-minute passing periods.”

Although Voss is avid on the passing periods staying in place, He does recognize that this change has been hard for students. 

When asked if students have brought this to his attention or complained, Voss stated, “No, I just hear kind of grumblings in the hallways, I know teachers have also voiced that it’s been tough for students to get there.”

In terms of this, Voss mentioned, “We’re trying to figure out better ways to help students work through the traffic flow so that that can help alleviate some of the anxiety.” 

Dean, Ricardo Cotto, who spends his time monitoring the hallways, adds that the school is taking measures to help students figure out a way to make these five-minute passing periods manageable. 

“If we [faculty] see students struggling in the hallways, we take the time to ask them if they’re taking the best route possible or if they’re gathering their materials in the day before the periods,” Cotto states 

Sometimes just asking a student about their habits can help generate change. However, if students are continuously struggling, efforts are made to figure out what needs to be done to make it easier. 

In addition to talking to students in the hallway, Cotto makes an effort to sit down with students and help them figure out how to navigate this change. 

“The resolution is, okay let’s look at your schedule and see where we can make your commute more efficient,” Cotto stated. 

Though the traffic in the hallways has been hard for students to accommodate, students are managing really well. 

Cotto expressed that he is impressed with the student body this year. 

“Honestly this year has been a mellow year for the student body, I just gave out my first warning of the year,” Cotto stated. “I’ve mostly just been observing and chatting with students.” 

“Students are struggling but most of them have figured out where they need to go and how to make it work,” he added. 

Another concern students have brought up is how this passing period works in terms of locker usage. 

Lefebvre states, “It’s hard because we have so little time to gather our things for the period.” 

Hartman added, “Sometimes I forget to grab something for the next period and I just don’t have the time to get it in those five minutes.

This 2023-2024 school year, students are no longer able to carry bags and purses and are instead expected to either go to their locker in between periods or carry a drawstring bag. 

Some resolutions to this issue would be the utilization of the drawstring bags or just to simply plan ahead. 

“We’re trying to educate students to plan for their day,” Voss states. “We’ve seen an uptake in students wearing the drawstring bags which I think is necessary for students to carry all their things.” 

Although this is an issue that many students aren’t fond of, the change in passing periods allows DePaul Prep to function at its highest ability. 

Faculty and staff empathize with students and their concerns and hope that this adjustment will become more manageable with time.