Wednesday late arrivals are now routine and were implemented by the district to, in part, allow South staff to participate in Professional Learning Mornings until 9:15 a.m., leaving some students unable to enter the building before 9 a.m., Principal Dr. Barbara Georges said.

Faculty and most staff meet on Wednesdays from 8 a.m. until 9:15 a.m. to participate in professional learning, and security staff finishes their meetings at 9 a.m. to let students into the building, Georges said. These late arrivals were also implemented to make the commute easier for families who have other kids at feeder schools, which have weekly Wednesday late arrivals, Georges said. 

“There is a lot going on in education right now that requires teachers and staff to be taught, and the only time to do that is during a late arrival,” Georges said. “We needed to increase the quantity of [professional learning opportunities] and expand them to all employees because everybody should be a lifelong learner.”

The 9:15 a.m. arrival policy changed because of the large bottleneck of students that has occurred when entering the building at some doors, Ronald Bean, Assistant Principal, Dean of Students, said.

Because the teachers become available 15 minutes before classes start on Wednesdays, students have not been able to go meet with a teacher or go to the Titan Learning Center (TLC) which has been a difficult adjustment for some, sophomore Evie Arzoumanidis said.

“[As] someone that doesn’t have an SRT, the only times I have to go to the TLC are lunch, before school, or after school, and after school I play a sport,” Arzoumanidis said. “When it’s not tennis season, I have a lot of clubs so the only [time] I really have [to go to the TLC] is before school and I don’t like waking up that early because I have a heavy course load and I have to do work, [making] it a lot more difficult to go in and get help.”

At the start of the school year, the building was closed until 9:15 a.m. due to the implementation of parapros professional learning meetings, Georges said. Students were sent to the cafeteria after being dropped off too early by buses or cars and were seen crowding around doors, Bean said.

Now, the meetings end earlier, allowing the building to open at 9 a.m., Georges said.

The administration is still working to open the building even earlier on late arrivals, Georges said. The ultimate goal is to select a time that accomodates student need and allows for professional development for all staff, Bean explained.

“As adults, we are trying to figure out what time the building should open, where do we have students stay when they come in the building, [and] who supervises them,” Bean said. “My hope is that we can figure out [those] other [pieces] sooner than later, so that we can focus on the good parts of [staff] being [able] to get together for professional development at both North and South.”