At the beginning of the year a panic erupted when it was announced that having no bells between classes was not going to change. It became a common concern among Upper School students of having the responsibility to travel between classes without signals. But, with the first quarter already behind us, we’ve reflected that having no bells might be a good thing.
Sitting in class at its start at 8:30 a.m., there is no rush to start class exactly on time. Instead, as stragglers make their way into the classroom, the rest of us talk about current events, the reading from the night before, even the finale of Breaking Bad.
The worry of ending class on time has diminished. For students that like scheduling their lives to the exact minute, a class extending five minutes late will rarely happen without rebuttal. Still, teachers have been lenient with no bells and end class almost always on time, even a few minutes early if they’re finished for the day. The luxury of being immersed enough in a class to lose track of when it ends is new to us, and we’ve grown to appreciate its worth.
The elimination of bells has contributed to a more relaxed school environment without sacrificing the rigor of classes, an ideal tradeoff. This detail, though small, could lead to less stress and subsequently healthier students.
Having no bells also gives us a small idea of what college will be like. After we leave the HockaBubble, there will be no bells to let us know when classes or events start and end. It becomes our responsibility to get to class on time and schedule meetings and other events, knowing that classes might not end exactly on time every day. Having no bells teaches us time management.
The mornings no longer start with a gunshot and a sprint to class discussion and no longer end with a loud siren, finalizing discussions and forcing teachers to yell their final thoughts as students run out of the classroom. Instead, the lack of bells has created a more casual start and end to each period and added much more fluidity to an otherwise chaotic day.
– Molly Montgomery
