Students expecting extended lunch in exchange for good grades will be in for a disappointment as lunch times will remain at 35 minutes for the entire year.

School administrators discontinued the reward program used last year to encourage sophomores, juniors, and seniors earning grades of C or higher to enjoy an extra 30 minutes of time. Those students, during second and fourth quarters, had free time between fourth period and the regularly scheduled lunch, while all freshmen and students with grades below Cs were in a study session or tutorial.

“I saw it as an opportunity to have a longer lunch,” junior Fouad Khoury said. “I wish they would give me the opportunity this year.”

Senior Alex Swiatko said last year’s extended lunch was a “fantastic” incentive.

“I feel like people tried a lot harder,” Swiatko said.

But the extended lunch caused trouble for the administration and staff were overextended because they had students in both the classrooms and roaming the campus, Principal Michael McAlister said.

“School officials could not supervise students who had an extended lunch appropriate amount of attention,” McAlister said.

This year’s study session takes place from 12:10 to 12:40 on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays. The goals are exactly the same as last year. Students are required to study either in a Link Crew class of all freshmen, a mixed-grade study session of sophomores through seniors, or a designated tutorial class based on progress report grades. Students may not leave their assigned class with passes to go to other classes, as was allowed two years ago.

One of the reasons to maintain the same format for last year’s study session is that student grades improved last year, McAlister said.

“You could see that the numbers just kept steadily increasing as far as kids who were initially in a supportive environment and then actually went into what was in last year’s case, free lunch,” he said.

Some students say they still miss the study session opportunity of two years ago, where students could go to see a teacher for help or meet with a group.

“I liked that if I needed to get personalized attention for a class I could get a pass from a teacher instead of stressing to fit it in on my free time,” senior Morgan Cherry.

“I think that it was better back then because we could move between classes and get help,” junior Natalia Szarmach said.

McAlister said the current plan is intended with the best opportunity for student success.

“Our goal, once again, is to provide excellence for our students and to expect exellence from them,” he said. “So to be in a situation where we at least provide that container into which they can experience the kind of support necessary for academic achievement, higher and higher levels of academic achievement, we think we are definitely on the right track.”

The faculty also want to create a quiet environment for learning especially because the goal of the administration is “excellence for and from all students.”

“I thought it was fantastic because I could do work that I couldn’t do the day before and that way the set and my part were ready for rehearsal,” senior actress Maddison Tinsley.

On the topic of a future option of getting passes to go to other classes during study session, for example for help from a specific teacher or to attend a rehearsal for performing arts, McAlister said it’s not likely in the near future.

“We will revisit the issue, however we do not want chaos in the halls because most of the people in the halls are not going to other classes looking for help but rather they just want to stay out of the class that they are already in,” he said.

McAlister said he is confident that this year’s study session, with everyone assigned to a class throughout the year, will benefit everyone.

“No matter what kind of academic experience we set up, there are going to be people who who take advantage of it in ways that are more effecient, perhaps, and more beneficial than others,” McAlister said.

Junior Rachel Melino said she is fine with planned study sessions for the whole year.

“I thought it was really long last year so I just did my homework anyway,” Melino said. She said she felt like the one-hour lunch was really long, especially since students couldn’t leave campus.

As for lunch, there will be no leaving Northgate for students. Northgate administration has been instructed to have a closed campus by the the district officials, McAlister explained. He added that district officials do not want students leaving campus because they are still legally responsible for students during lunch time and it is easier to supervise them if they stay on campus.