When I was in high school I always had one or two periods of study hall every day. Sometimes we studied and did homework, sometimes we played thump football, and I would always manage to read the newspaper almost in its entirety. I probably got more education our of the newspaper reading than any other activity I undertook each day. My wife is a former school principal and tells me that study halls are almost non-existent these days.
For the upcoming school year my son sought and was given the right to have a study period in the school library. The school doesn’t ordinarily have “study halls.” Apparently a few other students are going to be given a study period. He said the new school principal had a rather shocked look on his face when he looked at his schedule, which includes five AP classes, Chem, Eng. III, BC Calc, Stats, USHistory, World History; along with regular German III.
I’m glad my son is being given a study period as I think he needs the extra time to study (he also is not going to work this fall). But I think every student would benefit from at least one study hall period. I would much rather students have a chance to do some or all of their homework at school instead of being forced to do everything at night. Does anyone agree?
We didn’t have study halls at my high school, but my kids have always had one or two every day. I think they’re very helpful for kids who have sports practice or other activities after school.
Our district doesnt have study halls. I agree they could be useful, but they would not even pay for staff to open the library before or after school.
Study hall is not directly applicable to standardized testing, and my impression is, anything that can’t be measured, is being cut.
They had them in high school, but DS never took them. In a block schedule it just didn’t fit. The only people that took study hall were non-college prep kids and those not involved in sports, band or theater because they had enrichment clsses or strength training during those periods. He would have loved to have one in theory, but enjoyed his classes in high school so much more.
We had a 30 minute homeroom when I was growing up. It allowed for participation in pep band or choir. As a result we had very high participation in the performing arts and nobody had to sacrifice band or choir for an academic class.
I didn’t mind study halls when my kids had 40 min class periods. But all the schools in our area have recently switched to block scheduling, which means class periods are now 80 minutes. To me, sitting in a “study hall” (often times in the cafeteria with 100 other students, so not always the best atmosphere for actually studying) for 1/4 of their school day just seems like a waste of time. One of the downsides of the block in my mind. Some of our AP science classes require a study hall period following the class, so it takes up two periods, although they rarely use the study period for actual instruction.
At our high school, the lunch period has been divided in half: first you have lunch (25 minutes), then you have what’s called an “access” period, (mandatory in the student’s schedule) in which you can use as study time or go for tutoring in one of the resource rooms if needed. Each student is assigned a lunch/access period (alphabetically). This has been instituted in our HS for about three or four years now and both my kids liked it. In a way, it’s kind of like a “homeroom” because all announcements are read in this period etc. Both my Ds were peer tutors, so they were excused to go to the resource rooms during their access period.
There are still “study halls” that kids can take, and usually a varsity athlete will take a study hall during the season since they are excused from PE.
From what I have seen, most kids do not study during study hall, it has just become a period for socializing and hanging out.
In addition, many school districts have mandated hours of instruction and study halls are usually programmed in to schedules due to gaps/holes in the program where they cannot fit a class/teacher into that time slot.
Our school has a block schedule and each day has a “free”. It is required for everyone to have a free, but you can get permission to take an extra class. However, the stars have to align for the class you want to fit into your free. The kids aren’t required to study during that time but it gives them access to teachers and helps them learn to manage their time. The block schedule is fairly new to the school, just a couple of years. It is supposed to help prepare them better for the freedom of college.
Our kids do have some free blocks of time in their schedule however they are not required to report to a study hall. Students can see teachers for extra help (if they have the same free periods), go to a math lab, go to the library, practice in the orchestra room, upperclassmen can go off campus (especially nice if the free is before/after lunch). Basically it is up to the student to be constructive with their time. IMO it is a helpful preparation for college.
I wish study halls were still available. My daughter’s school requires everyone but seniors to take 7 classes. Seniors are allowed up to two free periods, but it has to be the first class of the day (block scheduling). Basically, it only works out if you have a teen with their own car (we don’t), the motivation to get to school on time 90 minutes into the school day (eh, we don’t really have that teen), a parking permit (hard to get), and a class schedule that works out in the teen’s favor. (i.e., they don’t want/need to take a class that is only offered during first or second period).
My kid would much rather take just five or six classes next year, but it just won’t work out for her.
our district still has study hall for all (normal scheduling/no block) and my D finds it enormously helpful…she does use it efficiently and gets her work done. i’m sure kids fool around, but they fool around in class too…the kid that is serious will take advantage of the time.
our study halls freely give the option to go work in the library and access the computers, seek out teachers, etc…all one has to do is ask for a pass, no big deal.
I have always insisted my DS have a study hall. Many kids in our district do not have one but take an elective course instead. Those tend to be the kids with less ECs however so they have less need for a study hall. My DS would have much less sleep each week without his study hall.
My S has a study hall every other day. He has PE every other day and there are no other classes offered like that, so everyone has a study hall every other day. Seniors have open campus during their study hall and lunch time, everyone else has to report to a room with an adult monitor (I think it is more like a teacher’s aide than a teacher).
S had one study hall period per week during HS, because he chose to double up in one subject area every year. The last two years, that sole period was taken up by meeting with a teacher for an independent study.
Most other kids certainly had them, although his peers who took an extra class usually only had one, like him, assuming that at least one of the classes had a lab.
I’m glad to see some school still have study halls. It’s sad that more don’t. And from the comments, I can’t help but conclude that “block” scheduling is not a very good idea.
I never even knew study halls were an actual thing until I began college.
At my school/community, there were no study halls. It would have really been a nice thing to have, cause I was stressed for time during my junior and senior years.
S16 has had them, but he still took 7-8 classes. I took 5-6, with a study hall when I had 5. I don’t think the total amount of work is necessarily greater, but I think more classes make make it harder for some kids to stay organized.
Study halls are rare here because there is only a 6-period day and lunch is the same 30 minutes for everyone. (Well, there’s a 7am zero period for a few subjects and some sports teams are “7th” period.)
Our school was advised during the last WASC accreditation round to add an “embedded support period” to help kids who were getting Ds and Fs and to relieve stress on the other kids. The schedule they eventually chose is 2 40-minute “seminars” per week on days (Wed/Thurs) that have 3 long classes like a block schedule. The other 3 days are regular 6-period days.
During “seminar”, kids have a variety of options:
– Traditional study hall in an assigned classroom.
– Study groups in the library taught by student mentors (see below).
– Get a pass to go to another class for a make-up test or whatever. Students on sports teams are constantly missing multiple tests for away games.
– Remedial work in a class where they have a C, D, or F taught by teachers and student teachers (see below).
– Work with counselors/specialists for kids failing multiple classes or with behavior issues.
– Some classes like engineering and band require kids to use the extra time for their classes.
– Serve as a “student mentor” helping a group of kids in the library; these students get training on how to mentor.
– Serve as a “student teacher” for a specific subject; these students get training on how to reteach class lessons. Only juniors and seniors are eligible and teachers nominate particular students. My son will be doing this for AP Physics 1 & 2 next year.
Implementation was a bit rocky in places, but I think most of the issues have been worked out.
No. If a student is taking a full load of academic classes, I see absolulely no value to paying a librarian (or other school faculty member) for what is nothing more than babysitting. Kinda of a waste of tax dollars to me to pay someone to “watch” a teenager read the paper or play thump football.
OTOH, if a student is struggling, and cannot handle a full load of coursework, study hall/free period can be a big help.