Student’s Confusing School Schedule Has The Internet Reminiscing Weird Class Start Times

A Reddit user's posting sharing his bizarre class start times has users reminiscing about their weird class schedules.

By Jessica Marie Baumgartner | Published

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class schedules

Student class schedules are a big deal. They determine when children should be in which class and help them stick to a daily learning routine. One student’s class schedule was posted to Reddit and has led to a national conversation on class times, and student placement. 

The schedule in question lists multiple periods, but for language and math periods two separate start and stop times are listed back to back. In addition, the times are all strange minute sects. Instead of clearly marking that language arts classes begin at 9 am and end at 10:30, it is listed as running from 9:02 am through 9:42. Then the same class begins again at 9:46 and ends at 10:26. The math class works this way as well. 

In the past teachers and students ran on more standard class schedules which didn’t include bathroom breaks and other strange time frames. It was understood that students would need extra time for traveling and so that time was just incorporated without having to be listed or notated. Now, it seems that specific times are required to incorporate everything from bathroom breaks to travel time, and even early lunch periods. 

Not only is this class schedule highly regimented to account for every minute of a student’s time, but his lunch period begins at 10:30 am. Reddit users noted this bizarre lunchtime. It leads some to question if this is an appropriate span being that students who eat earlier have to go longer before they can go home and eat a snack after school. These kinds of class schedules also led to another revelation.

In the United States, most areas require students to receive about 1,000 hours of educational instruction each year. This is an incredibly high amount compared to other countries. Among 33 developed nations the average hours that students attend school each year is closer to 800. In Sweden, students are in class 740 hours annually, while Russian students are only in class for a mere 470 hours each year. Based on the comments section regarding this post, some may conclude that the additional hours are merely to accommodate bus schedules

Various adults discussed their issues with weird class schedules in the past. From reminiscing about waiting for school to end at the very specific time of 3:14 to speed walking between classes that take place at opposite ends of a school, Reddit grew heavy with jokes about “odd times.” Not many Americans wish to eat lunch at 10:30 am but schools allow it because they have various students to care for and must ensure that classes extend enough to meet state requirements and end by the time buses are lined up and ready to ship students back home.  

Whether public school children grow up believing they will have to get to work by 9:23 or cannot leave until 5:04, these class schedules are laughable for their direct specifics and comical implications. Students getting reacquainted with school timing as the 2022-2023 school year begins may beg their parents to get them to school by 8:48. Yet despite this, if all employers worked together to stagger clock-out times, traffic could potentially be lightened so who is to say that schools are out of line for these strange timing habits?