In years before at Hawthorne High School, there was only one lunch period for all students, which caused a lot of problems for students and staff.  This year (2017-2018) is the first time our school has two lunch periods and a common class. If you are confused on how this works, let us explain.

If you have lunch 1, you would have your first three classes then go to lunch (40 minutes). After that you would go to your next class, which is a normal 56 minute period.  If you have late lunch you would go to your first four classes (56 minutes each), then have a 40 minute lunch. If you are wondering how this works well here’s how:

Lunch is 40 minutes no matter if you have early or late lunch. The 16 minute common class either comes before or after your lunch. If you have the early lunch, your 16 minutes will go to your fifth period class after lunch to make it a 56 minute class. And if you have late lunch, your fourth period class will have the 16 minute to make it a 56 minute class. No matter what lunch you have, lunch is always 40 minutes and regular classes are always 56 minutes. Even with the new common class.

A common class is a 16 minute break between the lunches. This time provides the janitors and lunch staff a chance to clean up and restock the lunches. You may wonder how the school can fit an extra 16 minutes in for all of this to happen. Well both lunches are only 40 minutes, while regular classes are 56 minutes. So if you add up 40 and 16 up it would equal one regular period.

The two lunch’s provide better seating for all students. In years past there was not enough seating space in any of the cafeterias. That caused students to eat in the hallways, which was not okay. Another problem was that the lunch lines to buy lunch and snacks were way too long. The two lunch periods ultimately solved both of these problems.