Many students are pleased with the new plan because of the amount of time and activities that they can do this year. The auditorium is open and movies will be shown there frequently. Many clubs and extracurricular activities that used to be only after school are able to be held at lunchtime. Some classes will also be held at lunch.



The movies that are shown in the auditorium will be ducational and will be shown on a weekly basis. They will be picked by the English and Social Studies Departments, and will be based on topics relevant to those classes. Some future movies will be about works of Shakespeare or historical events. The first movie shown was The Emperor’s Club.



Students will also have a range of other options to go to during lunch. Clubs like the Student Government Association, SAMOSA, Yearbook, Photo Club, and class officers will all meet at some lunches. The councilors will also be open, allowing students more time to fix schedule problems and other is ues. Students can also eat their lunch at a teacher’s classroom, but only with that teacher’s permission.



There will be potential problems about the lunch system this year. The biggest one is probably the issue of trash being left in the hallways and in other places. But there are many trash areas in the school, and an increased effort to try to keep the school clean. There have also been issues about too much crowding in the hallways and cafeteria. “In second semester after more seniors leave, it shouldn’t be as crowded,” said Assistant Principal Mrs. Johnson.

Students can choose to eat their lunch in the hallways or the courtyards, but not in the front lobby or the front entrance. They can’t leave the Paint Branch campus without permission and can’t be in the parking lot either.

For seniors, there are more options than for the rest of the school. During the first marking period, seniors can walk to the Briggs Chaney Center, and later on will be allowed to drive there as well.



The change in lunch policies came about because of changes from last year. Mrs. Dixon developed a lunch committee of teachers, student’s parents, herself, and others to consider changing the lunchtime schedule. Part of this was based on schools like Blake High School, who have a one lunch period system. Also, there was opposition by students to the lunch schedule of last year, where there were three 30-minute lunches in an A, B, and C system.

“I think that this system is good because since then we can have more time to do things and not be rushed,” said freshman Justin Park.

The lunch committee will meet again at the end of this year to review the experiment and survey student satisfaction. This re-examination will lead to any necessary changes for the next school year.

“I like the new lunch schedule this year,” said Anver Khan. “We have more time to eat lunch and take care of other things.”