The shift to students primarily staying in a single classroom each day for Eagle Period marks a significant change in their educational experience, impacting not only their daily routines but also their social interactions and access to interventions and extracurriculars.
This change was made in response to safety concerns and challenges of students not being in class, leading to a more structured environment. However, this change has come with a lot of opinions from students and teachers about how it affects our learning and long term academic and social development.
In previous years, some students would skip Eagle Period to spend time with friends in the hallways or off campus, and they wouldn’t use that time to make up missing assignments or tests.
“I dislike it [this year] because I have to sit in second hour for an hour and a half. Even though they did it to help people stop skipping, it’s boring sitting in there for that long period of time,” said Landon Bittick (11).
Last year, Heritage used a website called RTI Scheduler to manage where students would go during Eagle Period. This year, we changed to a new website called Securly Flex, which many students and teachers are struggling to adapt to using.
“I don’t like how hard it is to work the Flex app, and if we can’t get into it we have to go to the office because my teacher doesn’t know how to work it either so it makes everything complicated. I don’t want to walk to the office every day to find out my Eagle Period,” said Karmen Hoffarth (10).
Although there are some negatives with the new Eagle Period, it has improved campus and student safety, and it has also improved student attendance.
“If kids need help or intervention, it helps students stay on campus versus skipping. I’m a TAEP [Teacher on Assignment during Eagle Period] this year so I do miss getting to see some of my students who would come to my class for RTI, but I do see the purpose of it. Also the kids who have straight A’s maybe need a break during the day to socialize but can’t get that anymore because of the new RTI system,” said CTE teacher Amy Woolsey.
