Many students are wondering why homeroom is gone this year.  Homeroom, for most students, was like another class. Freshmen year, students got their schedules and were told who their homeroom teacher was. Homeroom would be the place that they would be every morning for the next four years; however, that is no longer the case.

    Now that there is no homeroom, the morning announcements must be made during first period, which some teachers, such as Mr. Donahue, do not mind. Mr. Senft explained that one of the two main reasons for eliminating homeroom was to lengthen class time. It doesn’t seem like a big difference, but over the school year it will all add up and by the end of the year you will have been in a class for a much longer amount of time.
    Now that homeroom is gone, some think it was a necessity while others did not care much. “It had its uses but homeroom was not necessary,” stated Mr. Donahue. It seemed that with or without homeroom, Mr. Donahue did not mind. On the other hand, Ms. Benedetto had a very different view on this situation. “Homeroom is necessary when voting,” stated Ms. Benedetto, teacher and Student Council Adviser. She thinks it’s needed for voting for class office, homecoming, or even for the prom theme. She also believes that homeroom helps when teachers need to contact specific students for various reasons. Ms. Benedetto also stated, “Eliminating homeroom will hopefully deter students from coming to school tardy since they will risk losing credit for their first period class after a certain amount of unexcused tardies.” Ms. Benedetto thinks the transition has been a success.

    Another reason for eliminating homeroom was because of student tardiness. Students used to say they were "Just missing homeroom" as an excuse for tardiness,  but now they will be missing first period. Eliminating homeroom will hopefully lower the tardiness throughout the year.

    Most students have the same reaction to no homeroom. In fact, three out of four students interviewed said they would not mind to have a longer school day as long as homeroom was included. “Homeroom gives me a chance to do homework if not completed,” said Christie Philippe, a senior at Stratford High. Christie also said that she enjoys the free time before classes begin. Karin Wengenroth, a freshman, also would like the free time in the morning before classes start. “If students are late to first period, they will miss out on certain things that others have learned that day,” stated Karin. Karin thinks that students should have homeroom so no one misses real classes, and she also thinks everyone needs time to get prepared for the school day.

    Homeroom is gone, and is not coming back anytime soon so for now students just need to deal with a period of adjustment.