Students that attend Township High School District 214 were notified at the end of the 2023-2024 school year that there would be a new start and end of school time for the upcoming school year.

All Township High School District 214 schools now start classes at 8:20 a.m. and conclude at 3:10 p.m. with Zero Hour starting at 7:20 a.m.

The school board approved this decision that students and staff will start classes earlier and end classes later, along with adding five minutes to each class.

With District 214 continuing the block schedule the board decided this decision would provide an optimal learning environment while meeting the state mandate for seat time requirements.

Freshman Dyllan Kotula mentions that middle school starts even earlier so it’s not a big adjustment.

“I always woke up early for Lincoln, so I don’t see the big problem with the new time changes.”

For last year’s freshman, sophomores, and juniors they get a new taste of the new school time.

For junior Noah Carlberg he expressed how he thinks that the new schedule will impact students.

“Having longer days are brutal, but I think these new schedules will benefit students with better test scores.”

According to the Public Schools Review last year Prospect High School ranked in the top 5% in the state of Illinois in test scores. 

Due to that being that Prospect High School had the best attendance rate last year in Township High School 214.

Carlberg also mentions that due to this new schedule that he has left homework and work in class to do.

“I’ve had very little homework to do which gives me a lot of extra time for extracurriculars,” Carlberg says.

With having less work to do in classes it means that students will be able to get more help if needed. Students can use the extra time to get more work done. 

“I think having this new schedule will benefit us students for our academic success,” Carlberg mentions.