On Nov. 1, Principal Tim Phares released the new official ACE schedule to all CHS teachers. The biggest schedule change includes moving study and resource time to the afternoon instead of the morning. This new change to the ACE schedule caused numerous complaints among students, especially surrounding the now-afternoon student and resource time. 

In past years, students have used study and resource time to conference with teachers if they have any material they want to go over or to do some last-minute studying for those whose schedules may have been busy the day before. Either way, the new schedule removes B1 and B2’s student resource time, limiting students’ time to consult with teachers for those classes. In return, we get a useless study and resource time after B3 and B4 ACEs to which students have no more ACEs to study for. Even if the administration did switch up the schedule this year to have morning ACEs, they should’ve at least removed the last day’s study and resource time and moved it to the Monday of ACE week to allow students time to study for their B1 and B2 ACEs. 

Additionally, study and resource time allows students who finished preparing the night before to be able to sleep in more which can lead to higher test scores, according to MIT News. As a student who has gone through three different versions of ACE scheduling, from when I used to have up to four ACEs in one day, the previous ACE schedule with ACEs taken in the afternoon, to the new schedule implemented this year with ACEs taken in the morning, I can confidently say the ACE schedule with study and resource time in the morning and ACEs in the afternoon is my preferred schedule of testing. 

In those years, my typical day would start at 9 a.m. My friends and I gathered at the library to study and quiz each other on the content we wanted to review before that day’s ACE. We would compare our notes and homework and find other students who were also studying for the same class that day to talk about our predictions, thoughts and what we were most worried about. 

This helped me better prepare for the ACEs I would take that afternoon and solidified what I wanted to review the most. Switching study and resource time to the afternoon is less beneficial as I can only review content during that time for the next day. As someone with short-term memory problems, doing a last-minute review of concepts I’m not entirely confident about the day of the exam rather than the day before helps me retain the knowledge for the ACE. 

Since the switch to afternoon study and resource time, I now only have the option of cramming all the content I need to know the night before and waking up early to review to ensure I didn’t forget. I don’t prefer either option as I tend to sleep through all five alarms, especially during a stressful period. 

Overall, the switch to morning ACEs benefits a minority of students, and many have already expressed their negative opinions on the new schedule. 

The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Jenny Li at [email protected].