The number of late arrival days for the district is scheduled to increase from 14 to 22 per year, and the start time is scheduled to change from 10:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Late arrival days will be scheduled for Wednesdays during most weeks without a scheduled day off. The adjustment is scheduled to be implemented at the start of the 2023-2024 school year.

The adjustment to late arrival days was recommended with the understanding that more frequent late arrival days would aid in student well-being, principal Jason Markey said. 

“More sleep can be helpful and even just a change of pace in days,” said Markey. “Adifferent start time, semi-regularly, is helpful to our students so they can have some time in that morning to choose to use how they see fit. The mutual benefit is for our faculty, so our faculty then can use that same time that’s beneficial for students … to collaborate with one another to better prepare them to serve their students.”

The change was based on anecdotal feedback from students who reported that more regular late arrivals would have an overall positive impact, Markey said. 

“Especially our own students here at GBN, and our colleagues across the district at GBS … they’ve always reported a very positive experience [with late arrival days],” Markey said. 

The changing start time from 10:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. is intended to minimize the loss ofclassroom time from the increased number of late arrivals.  

“Over the length of the school year, the loss of time is pretty negligible when we look at the number of instructional minutes actually in the school year,” Markey said. 

According to physics teacher Bob LeBlanc, who heard about the proposal as a member of the Glenbrook Education Association and attended a meeting on the change to provide feedback, with the altered late arrivals, teachers will have greater flexibility in going to meetings without affecting their attendance at extracurricular activities they may sponsor or coach.

P.E.teacher Jenn Mau hopes students will use late arrival time for additional self-care.

“I think it’s nice for there to be a little break in the schedule,” said Mau. “It’s nice for [students] to have a little bit more sleep on a Wednesday.”

According to junior Daniel Xiang, he considers the increased number of late arrival days as an opportunity to get more rest and catch up on homework.

“There was one time where I had an essay due the day of [a late arrival],” said Xiang. “Having a late arrival that day, where I [could] use that extra time to finish revising the essay, was very useful.”