@TwinMom2023 most dorms require the person to remain with their guest at all times…in that situation, the girl could’ve approached the RA to have the RA removed from the room. The reality of the situation is young adults engage in sexual behavior. Most rules only take into consideration the number of nights per month or in a row the guest can stay. The school does not dictate how long a person has to know someone before they engage in sexual behavior. There is also no guarantee that a sexual assault will not occur just because it is someone that the roommate knows . If no rules are broken, it is just a part of college . Looking into a single room or considering a school that does not allow overnight guests is another option. Dorm rules also do not take into consideration guests that don’t stay overnight, so it is quite possible for someone to visit, have a sexual encounter and leave without staying overnight and no rules has been broken. All of these things should be looked at when choosing housing .
@me29034 it also does not take into account sexual encounters between members of the same sex.
Today is D19’s first day of school and she texted her schedule. Don’t know how, but she has a study hall in there. Have a feeling it is going to be a challenge getting that fixed! Hate having to call guidance right away. Asked D19 to go to guidance and ask for some options.
What is wrong with a study hall? My S has had several through the years. He has one this semester and will have two in the spring.
I don’t understand the problem with study hall either. My kids both had a study hall each semester all thru high school. They also had a lunch, which I never knew kids would opt out of until I read that here on CC.
FWIW at one college tour, the presenter said that they consider two study halls excessive and really aren’t fond of
them at all. They view it as not as driven.
My kids’ school eliminated them last year, but not due to college applications. 8-|
@TwinMom2023 What school was this at they made the comment about two studies? Was it a very selective school? I’m just curious because even my older D who was a much better student than my S19 had two studies the second half of senior year. Its actually pretty common at our school. The GCs make sure that kids have all the requirements for graduation, and of course if they are top of the class with lots of APs they get those, but after that they take it easy on them. They don’t bother just filling in space with unneeded electives.
Our school has a set number of study halls that each student is assigned each year. There is no choice.
We have something called “Instructional Focus” which every grade in HS has on a block day once a week. It has always been a great way for the kids to get extra help if needed or a way for the school to bring in motivational speakers or just have the teachers do something the entire school has committed to - this year is a continuation from last year which revolves around “building strong, positive relationships in the building – student to student, student to staff, staff to staff, school to community”. I would think that most admissions departments at colleges would approve of that use of time once a week in a school.
Our school has a once per week “advisement” period where they do very little, so it gives a small chance to get ahead on homework, I guess. What I can’t understand is why our school requires a student to be “fully enrolled” every year and will not grant any free periods. D is taking an online elective so that she can leave school early and get to sports practice on time. She did the same last year and this puts her 2 credits over the required number for the advanced diploma. (Which is 2 more credits than the basic diploma). Since she is not getting the highest (IB) diploma, I really don’t see why she needs these electives. They are just space-fillers and have been a thorn in her side.
We don’t typically have study halls anymore, but they have Flex 4 days a week which is nice. This is a time when there are no scheduled classes so all of the teachers are available. You can study, have meetings, get help from a teacher, practice music or speech events with your group, audition for the musical, etc.
Last night DD was already stressed about her homework load which we thought was going to be light this year. I asked her if she could drop an online DE class and have a study hall but she thinks she can’t. Next semester she has the option to not replace her 1st semester online classes with anything and maybe I won’t have her try to take more online classes (that’s the only way they can do DE). I am not one to push them into harder workloads or busier schedules, in fact I’ve tried to get the girls to quit things on several occasions! It usually doesn’t happen though!
Just hoping she gets into the groove on her classes soon and doesn’t have to spend as much time on homework. I think she’s doing too much notetaking on Geography when the quizzes are open book. She might back off of that once she gets more comfortable with the class.
Do you guys do Homecoming Court/King & Queen? We do, and voting was yesterday for Court. I think DD has a good chance of being on it, but for some reason results are still not out. She needs a long dress if on Court, and we have one we bought on clearance a couple years ago she can use, but it will need hemming so I would like to find out!
Homecoming is this weekend for us…not sure my S is going to the football game on Friday night as he has the ACT on Saturday to try to get that score up for additional merit at Ole Miss :-). He only needs an English class and a single semester Government this year to graduate so he was able to get his schedule arranged to finish a class for his Technology pathway, do a couple of IB classes that interest him and get the last two periods free. He has promised an effort for this year to get all As and maybe after all the ACT studying he can finally get a part time job 
Homecoming exists here in name only. There is a football game that is labeled the homecoming game but it is no different than any other football game. There is a dance in the school cafeteria after the game that neither of my kids has ever gone to. That includes D while she was a cheerleader. She just left after the football game was over. No voting for king, queen or court.
@me29034 Good question. I always had study hall. School is not big on them, but she has several classes thatvare only offered once a day. If it is in library, will probably let it be.
@me29034 and @EENYMum Yes, it was a selective school in the south with an admit rate in the 20% range, but it really stuck with me. I like study hall for kids. They are under so much pressure and does give them a breather, but this admissions rep was quite clear about it.
^ I suspect this is the same reasoning used for our school to have the “fully enrolled” requirement. I don’t care for it, in part because we are not looking at elite, highly selective colleges. For our part, my D might be doing a little better in her IB/AP classes if she had a bit of a breather in her schedule.
@me29034 DS19 has one study hall as well. DS16 also had one his senior year. He uses it to do his homework so that he can focus on college applications in the evening. He stays in school all day . He could have easily had early dismissal or late arrival, but he chose to be in school for the entire day. I find it hard to believe that a school would find that as a negative , and if that school does, it’s not one that I would want my son to attend anyway. DS16 suffered no ill effects from having a study hall…he was accepted at every program he applied to including selective honors programs and offered substantial merit. Not worth the worry IMO.
Our school has played with all sorts of schedules - last year 9/10 were supposed to have a study hall and 11/12 had 1-2 off periods. This year - no study halls, still off hours for 11/12 and a shorter class period 4x/week when all teachers are available to meet with any student needing help. Otherwise can be used as study hall I guess. The way classes are set up, an off hour is sometimes the only option as many classes are only offered 1x/day and there can be conflicts. S19 used his 1 off hour well last year - would catch up on HW or go for a run if he was missing winter track club to attend speech and debate practice. Agree with @carolinamom2boys - if a school would hold that against my kid, than that is not the school for him.
I have both an over achiever and a normal kid. Twin B chose to take honors online anatomy last year and Twin A had study hall. Frankly, I think having the option is better for kids who need it, but it was taken away this year. Both are doing dual enrollment at local college and have lighter course load to allow travel time. I have no clue whether that will be viewed as a positive or negative. It is what it is.
S19’s school doesn’t have study hall. I think a small percentage of seniors have a “free period,” but the school requires either a late arrival or early release - if you’re in the school, they want you in a classroom. Most people have 7 classes all four years (or 8, as there are a few ECs that count as an 8th class).
There is a rotating daily “free period”, but it’s only 15 minutes long and not really useful for much of anything.