By: Demira Parekh and Louisa Furman

With the changes made to the Winsor schedule over the summer came the addition of passing time between classes, giving rise to opinions throughout the community. A mere five minutes more at the end of the school day has caused both staff and students to wonder about the necessity of passing time.

There are many significant benefits of passing time that lead to its incorporation into the schedule this year. Ms. Calamari-Kirwan, school Registrar and Class VIII Dean, explains, “The switch [to passing time] was based off of student, faculty feedback…. in particular if [a teacher is] teaching in one area of the school.. and then in a spot further away.” It can certainly be argued that simply adding five minutes to the overall schedule is helpful to those who need to travel from one end of the building to the other due to the location of their classes. In addition, it is essential that the Winsor schedule accommodates all members of its community, and passing time is an important part of that as there are winsor community members with both temporary and permanent mobility difficulties for whom the five extra minutes are a valuable addition this year. Some students may have stress that their next period will start without them, and that stress can be reduced through passing time as they will reach class before the period begins. Passing time also gives students the chance to grab a quick snack or use the restroom reducing distraction during class time.

Although passing time can be helpful in certain scenarios, some members of the Winsor community do not have strong feelings one way or the other. Mr. Mirelman, a History teacher, appreciated that last year’s schedule allowed for extra time for meeting with students and colleagues in the afternoons. Many members of the Winsor community have afternoons busy with athletics, extracurriculars, and long commutes, so some students feel that the addition of passing time is not worth the five minute extension of the school day it has caused.

While passing time undeniably has its pros and cons, it is evident that passing time is crucial to the lives of the Winsor community members. Those five minutes add a brief pause during the busy and stressful academic day that allows breathing room for students between classes and that accommodates all members of our community. By adding only five minutes to our daily schedule, the administration has created passing time, a policy with indisputable benefits to students and faculty across the board. Ultimately, passing time continues to be a contentious topic, but we believe that it should be a permanent addition to Winsor.