By Ben Palmer
Division can be anything from a tight-knit group to a silent study hall. Whatever the dynamic, it is bound to change next year if the “Full School Day” plan is approved.
“We will have division once a week for 45 minutes,” said Dr. LoBosco. “It might have to be on Fridays since we have so many Mondays off.”
These days off will be significantly reduced next year, as Columbus Day, Pulaski Day, and report card pick-up become student attendance days.
LoBosco also confirmed that negotiations are still under way for the potentially longer school day
“Nothing is official yet,” LoBosco said.
LoBosco added that divisions will remain the basis for standardized testing. Divisions will also still be organized by number, teacher, and room. LoBosco said that for meetings and school functions, “division is more organized.”
Programs that operate during division, like the morning TV broadcast, will have to adjust to this change in the schedule. LoBosco said adjustments will be made to improve and lengthen the broadcast.
“I already contacted Mr. Yadao about doing a weekly longer news report,” LoBosco said.
The new morning broadcast will be “a revision of what that program is like. More current events…more like a news program,” LoBosco said.
The broadcast would be around 30 minutes once a week, if current plans are approved.
Another division-based program, the STARS Mentors, will also be effected by the less frequent division. STARS mentors visit freshman divisions twice a month. Counselor and program coordinator Ms. Dulberg says that the STARS will return next year despite the change in schedules.
“There were a couple of days when we weren’t sure what we were going to do,” said Dulberg. “I wasn’t sure how I was going to organize [the mentors], or how I was going to assign them [to divisions.]”
Dulberg is embracing the new division time table and hopes that freshmen and their mentors can spend a full 30 minutes together once a month.
“I think less visits but more time per visit would be better,” said Dulberg, who thinks that the new division schedule will not drastically affect the program. “There will still be Freshman Kick-Off, and we’ll still have our after school stuff.”
“If [mentors] only visit once a month,” LoBosco said, “it might give them more quality time.”
Dulberg said the Lane staff is “generally supportive [of the new division schedule], and excited about new opportunities.”
In addition to these changes, LoBosco confirmed that morning announcements would still be daily.
“There’s an extra four minutes that we might tack onto the end of first or the beginning of second period,” said LoBosco. “But we’re only adding 32 minutes to the day.”
Those extra 32 minutes have obviously caused a stir in the student body, but students have reacted differently to new plans for division.
Jessica Rogowiec, Div. 376, sees daily division as a social anchor.
“There are many different classes we take, and we never see those people again,” said Rogowiec. “Division everyday for four years allows you to make close friends.”
Matthew Peters and Stephanie Ortega, Div. 562, both felt that the longer division wouldn’t have a profound effect.
“Division’s boring,” said Ortega, “so I don’t know why they’d add more minutes to it.”
“We don’t do anything in division anyway,” said Peters.
Regardless of division’s value or lack thereof, if the proposed CPS schedule for next year is approved, students will be seeing a whole lot less of it.
