By pure chance, I spotted something interesting on an announcement board mounted on the exterior wall of the dining hall. The announcement was in reference to encourage students to get to classes on time.
Classes change every 48 minutes. Students have four minutes to walk from one class to the next. The board flashes the word “begins”.
The next word “three minutes” appears to let the students know they have three minutes left to reach their next destination.
Naturally, if the destination is not far, the students would take their time and walk casually. Otherwise, they would take a brisk walk straight to the next class without tardiness.
The next words “until 7th period” to appear on the board.
As I continued my walk around the dining room, I realized the announcement was flashing the time countdown. I took this picture on the front wall of the dining hall.
Countdowning to the last minute for class… Please excuse the grammatical error with the “s” for plurality.
Below is the class schedule with seven periods for Middle School students. For grades 2 through 12, the starting class time is 8:30 and the ending time is 3:30. That way school buses from nearby school districts can pick up and drop off students of all grades at the same time for efficiency.
On Fridays, school day is shortened to allow school buses take students home far and near early enough to beat the slow-moving freeway traffic.
Of special interest, there have been three sets of starting and ending school hours in the past 72 years at CSDR. For the first full school year 1953-1954, the school hours were set at 9:00 am to 4:30 pm. This temporary school schedule allowed new faculty members an hour of extra free time to prepare for the day since the brand new school just opened with few resources.
In Fall 1954, the school hours fell back one hour to start the first period at 8:00 am and the last period ended at 3:30. Some years later the ending time was set at 3:10 to allow extra sun time for outdoor activities prior to dusk. The starting school time at 8:00 remained as the standard time for 68 years from 1954 to 2022. The current starting time is 8:30.
Whatever CSDR decides on setting the school hours, the administrative team double-checks with the State Department of Education to remain in compliance with the minimum number of minutes of class time each day as well as the number of minimum school days for proper accountability.
Kevin Struxness, ‘76, MA
Editor, CSDR Old Times
13 December 2024
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