With the start of the 2022-2023 school year, many Jackson-Reed students have found stress in their class schedules. The time-consuming schedule change system has caused further frustration among students and staff.

This year, Jackson-Reed reverted to its pre-COVID eight-block schedule. As students and staff adapt to this new normal, the challenge of schedule change requests has added to the turmoil.

Senior Liberty Kessler described the process as “incredibly frustrating”. DC history is one of the required classes for seniors, yet in Kessler’s schedule, the class was written down at the same time as another required course, a problem that seems to have occurred for many. 

Junior Laura Welles was placed in a class she had already completed her freshman year. “It was really hard to talk to someone about my schedule,” she said. 

Similarly, Kessler was frustrated by the expansive line outside the library. She spent the majority of the second day of school and some of the third day waiting.

Sanchez says he “waited for hours because the ratio of counselors to students was so uneven.” Welles agreed, adding, “I felt so much stress trying to make sure I had all the classes I needed.” The situation was so dire that students resorted to cheating the system, many of them pushing to the front of the line and taking matters into their own hands. Sanchez admits, “I literally snuck to the front of the line in order to get what I needed because I knew I wouldn’t get it otherwise.” 

Alongside students, counselors at Jackson-Reed juggled hundreds of schedule difficulties. With only two counselors per grade, delays were inevitable. Laurie Ligon, 11th grade school counselor comments, “I am a firm believer that there is always room for growth and improvement in any process.” Though schedule changes were completed as of Monday, September 12, counselors’ help is still in high demand. 12th grade school counselor Leticia Martinez was unavailable for interviews, commenting on the “high email/meeting request volume.”

The schedule change process this year seems to have been a lot more stressful than in years passed. “It was a very calm process last year,” remarked Welles. “Normally the school would give each grade a day or two designated to them to do schedule changes. Seniors first, then juniors, then sophomores, and finally freshmen,” added Kessler.

Even through the chaos, counselors worked diligently to help students. Sanchez comments, “they’re working hard, and I respect them for that, but I think they’re setting themselves up for failure with this in-person process and I don’t understand why they do it.”

Like Sanchez, students around the school have wondered why the process is so time consuming. The demand for schedule help at Jackson-Reed clearly surpasses the amount of assistance the counselors can give. The increased student population at Jackson-Reed contributed to the large crowd eager to change their schedules. In addition, the time from when students receive their schedules to the time they are permitted to change them, was valuable time that counselors could have used to spread out the process. With new counselor hires, the adjustment to the school could have created additional delays. “Either way, I really hope they figure out a better system for next school year,” concludes Sanchez. •