Later Start, No Lunch Block in New High School Schedule

Strath Haven High School students will see some changes when the school opens its doors for full-time in-person instruction on April 12. The school day will start at 9:15 a.m., rather than at 7:35, as it does now, and lunch will be available at the end of the day, at 1:54, in grab-and-go form only. Staggered 10-minute “wellness breaks” during third block (the class time between 11:31 a.m. and 12:46 p.m.) will permit students to leave the classroom to eat a snack in designated locations where there will be enough room for 6 feet of distancing.

In an email sent to high school families on March 18, Principal Greg Hilden outlined the challenges of creating a schedule for full-time in-person instruction while adhering to guidelines from the Chester County Health Department and the Centers for Disease Control. “The approved high school schedule has reorganized the day to mitigate safety and space constraints surrounding lunches,” he wrote.

A later start to the high school day has been under discussion since at least May 2019, when the Wallingford-Swarthmore School Board authorized a study on adolescent sleep needs and school-day start times. 

Concerns About Lunch

Some parents and students raised concerns about the absence of a traditional lunch break at the March 22 Wallingford-Swarthmore School Board meeting. Eve Buckley, who has two children enrolled in the high school, noted that some students have health issues that make it important for them to eat regular meals. “Going into a schedule that’s not allowing for any normal sort of lunch jeopardizes a lot of progress we’ve been trying to make,” she told the board.

High school senior Olivia Fox said that the schedule was particularly burdensome for students who have fifth-block commitments, such as marching band, and also play sports. She expressed her concern that such students would have “no time to get a good meal in.” Fox said she was also concerned about mental health. “There is no way our students are prepared to sit through all four blocks with simply a ten-minute wellness break,” she said.

“The Only Workable Solution”

Strath Haven High School Principal Greg Hilden

According to Hilden, offering grab-and-go meals after fourth block is the only workable solution for lunch, given the number of students who want to return to in-person school full time. Although the revised safety plan that the school board adopted on March 8 permits students to be only 3 feet apart when wearing masks, they must maintain 6 feet of distance when they have to remove their masks to eat. The physical constraints of the high school do not accommodate that amount of distance, he said, adding, “It’s about wanting everyone in the building.”

Hilden explained that the system the high school uses — four academic “blocks” rather than seven shorter periods — is a major impediment to scheduling lunch. He noted that other nearby high schools that use block scheduling have remained all virtual (Upper Darby) or put lunch at the end of the day (Garnet Valley). 

Staffing shortages add to the logistical challenge. “We have a huge substitute shortage across education,” Hilden reported. When absent staff members can’t be replaced by substitutes, multiple classes must join together in one room to be supervised. This rules out the use of certain large spaces that might otherwise be available for overflow during lunch periods.

Hilden expressed doubt that the opinions offered at the school board meeting were held by a majority of families. Since the new schedule was published, he reported, many families have asked to return to in-person school. As of March 24, 155 students have asked to switch from all-virtual learning to in-person school, according to Hilden, with only 25 switching from the current hybrid in-person model to the Online Academy. “I haven’t had anybody — after the schedule was published — ask to go online,” he said.

Hilden said that students will have time to eat lunch in the 25 minutes between the end of fifth block (at 3:05 p.m.) and the beginning of most athletic practices (at 3:30). He noted that students with nutrition-related health issues, such as diabetes, usually have “504 Education Plans” that allow accommodations, like eating when they need to. “We’ll be as flexible as we can,” he said.

He said he did not anticipate revisiting the lunch issue this year. “This is our third transition,” Hilden said. “It’s not going to be beneficial to make another.” 

The next board meeting will be Monday, April 12, at 7 p.m., in the Strath Haven Middle School library, 200 S. Providence Road, Wallingford. If you prefer to watch at home, go to the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District’s YouTube channel.