DAYTON-The School Board made the decision to extend school hours to 2 p.m. beginning March 1.

As it may be known by now, the recent decision to change the Dayton High School schedule has been under consideration for some time. Students, parents, and teachers have been left to wonder when this change will take place, and what the class schedules will look like. On Friday, the final decision was announced. Beginning on Monday, March 1, Dayton High School will start their class day as usual at 8:15 a.m., and finish the day at 2 p.m. This will replace the current system of ending in-person learning at 12:30 p.m., and distance learning at 3 p.m. With the new schedule, the students will no longer attend online classes in the afternoon, but instead will attend all seven class periods between 8:15 a.m.-2 p.m., in person.

The new schedule is being applied with the intention of returning the high school to a more “normal” education. It was said in the January school board meeting that the new schedule is also expected to improve students’ performance in their classes.

It seems that the unconventional school year has had some negative effects on the grades of the high schoolers, in fact, Junior class student Keon Lindley commented that “distance classes feel more like I’m doing twice as much homework, instead of feeling like I’m in class.” Many other students also feel this way; because half of their classes take place from home, it can be easy to feel as if they are doing more work than they actually are. This causes a lot of stress for a student, which may account for the drop in grades this year. Hopefully, switching to the new schedule will bring the positive change that many are expecting of it.