On Wednesday, Aug. 13, students rang in the 2025-2026 Highland Park High School—notably, this marked the first day with a new bell schedule. The new schedule, which students voted on during the 2024-2025 school year, is the third different bell schedule in three years. When asked why a new schedule was created, Deputy Superintendent and Chief Human Resources Officer Kathryn Anderson said, “The decision to create a new schedule was driven by the terms of the collective bargaining agreement between the teachers’ union and the Board of Education. As part of this agreement,” the district is “implementing a common bell schedule across both schools to ensure consistency and better alignment of instructional time.”
The school day starts at 8:40 on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, and begins at 8:20 on Wednesdays and Fridays. Additionally, Early Bird is only three days a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), which allows more flexibility for morning club meetings. Students only attend homeroom on Wednesdays and Fridays for a shortened 15-minute period. However, all school days end at 3:10.
The new schedule, like its predecessor, has every class on Monday and skips two classes every day for the rest of the week. On Mondays, each period is 40 minutes; Tuesday through Friday, each class lasts for 55 minutes.
Hungry students eat during three 30-minute lunch periods, compared to four periods in last year’s schedule. This change has generated some negative feedback from students concerned about more crowding in the lunchroom; an issue students complained about last year—especially during D lunch. To address these concerns and prevent overcrowding from being an issue, Anderson provided the following response:
“Each school’s master scheduler has worked carefully to balance both classes and lunch periods by drawing on strategies previously used when HPHS operated under a similar three-period schedule. School staff will actively monitor and support lunch periods to ensure that students have adequate time and sufficient space to enjoy their meals.”
Nevertheless, overcrowding in lunch periods has still been an issue.
“Trying to find space at a table has been really difficult, and by the time I get my food, there is almost no space,” Junior Sam Stoltze said.
Despite these issues, students are generally satisfied with the new schedule. Students have particularly liked getting extra sleep in the morning.
“Getting an extra 20 minutes of sleep three days a week has been awesome,” Junior Ethan Horwich said.
Overall, while the new bell schedule has its issues, students seem willing to overlook these drawbacks due to the improved flexibility–and, most importantly, a little extra sleep.