The Paw Print

By Madeleine Spanbauer, News Editor

After years of keeping with the same schedule, Walter Payton College Prep teachers and administration decided to make some changes to the school timetable.

During the 2023-2024 school year, students will no longer attend their advisory for 10 minutes at the beginning of each day; instead, students are expected to go directly to their first class at 8 a.m. sharp. In addition to this, students will no longer have an enrichment period on their non-seminar Wednesdays. Dismissal on these days has been changed to 2:30 p.m.

Returning students have grown accustomed to a particular lifestyle, one specifically including advisory at the beginning of the day. Advisory provided a 10 minute cushion of time at the start of the school day, which could be beneficial for students who struggle with being tardy to their first period class, sometimes for reasons beyond their control. This could include trains breaking down, roadblocks, traffic, and faulty CTA buses en route to school. For students who rely on public transportation to get to school, sometimes being on time is not something in their control. 

Kristina Vlaovik ‘25, a frequent user of the CTA buses, feels that the buses often hinder her ability to make it to school on time.  “A lot of times, there are a bunch of delays for no reason, and it’s so annoying. It’s not my problem if I wait half an hour for the bus, and then I get to school 40 seconds late. The other day, I got an email because I was one minute and 40 seconds late to class, and I think it is insane for them to be marking me [tardy] for that, especially since I take the CTA.”

Some students are also upset with the advisory removal because it rids them of a precious 10 minutes to relax at the start of each day. “It was so nice to have advisory as a buffer between arriving at school and going to class,” said Anika Alavilli ‘26. “[Having advisory] built community, especially as freshmen. It really helped me get to know my advisory.” 

Another significant change to the schedule was the elimination of enrichment on non-seminar Wednesdays. This choice seems to be much more popular than the one regarding advisory, although students still have differing opinions. 

Elisa Xie ‘25 feels that having no enrichment on Wednesdays provides a nice break for students midweek. “I’d say that it’s nice getting out of school early so [leaving early] feels more like a weekly thing. It’s a nice break in the middle of the week from my classes.”

Conversely, Chloe Wong ‘25 thinks that the change has been a detriment to her club schedule because it has forced her to choose between her activities. “Because there’s no enrichment on Wednesdays, [my club] had to switch to Fridays on non-seminar weeks and Mondays every other week. Because I already have two clubs alternating on Fridays, I will probably end up having to choose one to go to. But, it is kinda nice getting out of school early.”

From those upset about not having daily advisories to those excited about leaving school earlier on Wednesdays, there are many differing opinions regarding the new changes in the Payton schedule. While some of the modifications may be unpopular, it does not seem they will be changing back soon. Students will have to grow accustomed to the new way of life at Payton, and in time, they will adapt to the changes and make the best of them.