On Nov. 1, the new Assessments and Culminating Experiences (ACE) week schedule was released to all CHS teachers. While most of the schedule aligns consistently with ACE week schedules in the past, the biggest change revolves around the Study and Resource periods (P&I time). 

Junior Andrew Fechtman is not an early riser. Fechtman said this change helps him, and would likely help a lot of other students. 

“There are a lot of benefits to the new ACE week schedule,” Fechtman said. “It’s a lot easier for people to have the motivation to stay after school. A lot of people, especially me at times, struggle to have the motivation to come into school earlier than others to retake a test or talk to a teacher to get help, but now that I would be staying after school to talk to a teacher or get help and get that attention, I feel like it would be a lot more normalized for students to want to stay after (school) and get that help from teachers. Overall, I feel like we will see performance increase.” 

Assistant principal Valerie Piehl was one of the decision-makers behind the new ACE week schedule. Piehl said one of the reasons the change was made was to stay consistent with the later start time of the school. 

“(The) final exams back then were originally scheduled in the afternoon back when the high school used to start much earlier in the day and the rationale was to allow students more time to sleep in and get breakfast before taking their exams,” Piehl said. “Once we changed our start time to 9:05 a.m, we never adjusted the exam schedule, even though that later start was now built into our calendar. We also received feedback that for many students, staying on a more similar schedule would actually work better and be more comfortable than having the schedule and the day changed.” 

Junior Kaia Starnino, like Fechtman, is not an early riser. However, Starnino said she disagreed with Fechtman. She said the new ACE week schedule makes it harder for students to study and find the resources they need while maintaining a healthy sleep schedule. 

“A lot of students are more productive at night,” Starnino said. “I know I speak for a lot of people I know and also myself. There’s things like sports and extracurriculars, and just a crazy schedule in general, that make a lot of people more productive at night, and just being able to wake up a little later and get the right amount of sleep, especially because peoples’ schedules get pretty messed up due to finals week, is really helpful, even if it’s only one extra hour of sleep.”

Starnino said the new schedule takes valuable studying and preparation time from students. 

“Being able to study and having the time to study and just prepare your mind right before the test is really helpful because you get to review the material right before it,” Starnino said. “It’s a lot more helpful than just studying the night before. It’s a lot more helpful for students who need help from teachers to go and get help right in the morning before the test than after the test, especially because the new ACE week schedule takes away the P&I time from the first and second blocks for blue day classes.”

Regardless, Piehl said the change was made for a multitude of reasons. 

“We also had conversations with (the) Carmel Police Department (PD) and the district about some of the safety concerns with drop-off in the middle of the day, both for traffic and safety,” Piehl said. “We also have many students who have extended time for exams, and felt that being able to stay in the afternoon would work better than coming earlier in the morning for them.”

Piehl said they will wait and see how things go this semester with the change before they make a final decision on the ACE week schedule for next semester.