Issue 6 news briefs

By Annabel Lee
Staff Writer

Wednesday Late Starts

Following the end of the first semester, Principal Elena Li announced through the Principals’ Newsletter that administration readjusted late starts to every Wednesday. 

This change allowed for staff to return to routine meetings, rotating between department, committee, team and full staff meetings. 

“Not having those Wednesday meetings was hard because we missed that extra time, not only to lesson plan, but to work on other projects such as new textbooks or state testing logistics,” Mathematics Department Chair Florence Lee said. “I know it seems like teachers just stay in their classrooms and that’s it, but we actually do meet a lot and we learn from each other which helps us grow as teachers.”

Prior to the 2023-2024 school year, students ended the school day at 3:15 p.m. However, due to California laws on instructional minute quotas, administration adjusted the class schedule to accommodate, lengthening the school day to 3:30 p.m. and switching late starts to every other Wednesday.

While next year’s schedule is not yet decided, students and staff hope to maintain late starts every Wednesday to account for the additional meeting time. 

Following the end of this year, administration will reevaluate instructional minute quotas and publish the finalized schedule for next year.

Food Deliveries

The first day back following Winter Break, administration added cubbies for lunch dropoff to the side gate on Lemon Avenue. 

Prior to this addition, students received food deliveries in the parking lot. However, this often led to confusion from students, parents and delivery drivers along with safety concerns due to congestion in the parking lot.

To address this, TCHS administration implemented a new system where drivers place food deliveries, whether from home or outside restaurants, inside cubbies. 

Each cubby is numbered to streamline delivery and ensure that all students receive their lunch. 

Additionally, the switch from the parking lot entrance to the side gate on Lemon Avenue provides more street space for cars to stop by for drop offs.

“It’s much more organized with the cubbies and now we can actually confirm with the students that they are picking up the right lunch, because there’ve been some mistakes in the past,” campus supervisor Mike Berrios said. “This change also makes it much easier to control the flow of traffic between the drivers, parents and students picking up.”

The establishment of lunch cubbies is a permanent change on campus, with a second cubby recently added for additional space and a possible third cubby on the way.