You walk through the hallways to witness friends reuniting after a summer apart, teachers catching up with their former students, and everyone overall buzzing with excitement. You’ve come back to a brand new school year, a fresh start. Every year, the school policies barely change, but this year the changes turned out to be especially crucial, and some of these new changes were not warmly embraced by some students. As often mentioned around Tenafly High School, the main school policy changes were the official employment of Classwize and the phone caddies. There’s more than just device restrictions to this year’s list of changes, though.
The implementation of Classwize was the one that shocked students the most. Classwize enables teachers to see the content on students’ computer screens, making it easier to weed out the “slackers” and Wordle gamers. Because of its program, all students must now use school-issued Chromebooks while logged onto their school email account. Many Macbook users are peeved by this new rule, as it means that they can no longer use their personal computer during class. With a trial use of Classwize last spring and its official employment this new school year, it seems like the program is here to stay.
Another change that largely upset students was the arrival of phone caddies. Phone caddies are now a requirement for all classes—not just a few of them anymore. The reasoning behind this change was to prevent students from getting distracted by their phones during class. In addition, students are no longer allowed to take them when they leave class, such as for the bathroom or to use the vending machines. To buy from the vending machines, students must now bring in cash as they can no longer use Apple Pay from their phones
Furthermore, homeroom, which used to happen only a few times in the entire year, now takes place every E day. In between the second and third blocks, homeroom has now been squeezed in, cutting time off of the already-shortened class periods. While students are questioning the reason behind this addition, they are also pleased with the smaller time periods for each class. However, homeroom was actually added for multiple reasons: to release information from the school staff, student organization, and more; to create a small tight-knit group where students and teachers can share about their well-being; and to have occasional announcements, such as Ms. Cutrone’s 9/11 speech. There are many benefits to homeroom, including students’ mental health. Homeroom is a great place for students to relax and take a quick mental break for a couple of minutes in between classes.
Another change is that the IDT list is no longer an email. It is a Google Calendar that all students were invited to through email by [email protected]. Students can add the Google Calendar to their accounts and check the updated IDT list throughout the day.
The location of the Attendance Office has also been altered, throwing off a handful of students when they walked by it in the first couple of days of school. The office was moved to Guidance in the southwest corner of the building, and the Student Support Leaders’ office has replaced the former Attendance Office in the middle of the building on the east side. If you need assistance from Attendance or Student Support Leaders, make sure you go to the updated locations!
To top it all off, the school entrances have also been changed. Students can no longer use both doors and are only allowed to enter the building through the entrance by the guidance office. Students must show IDs right as they walk through the door and are only allowed to bring school-issued lanyards and ID cards.
While these changes may come as a surprise to some students, they’re all meant to improve the school. Every school year, the THS faculty implements these new additions and changes with the sole benefit of the school in mind. With the start of the school year, as well as the school’s 100th anniversary and all of its festivities coming up, both students and staff know that it’s going to be a good year!
