For many people, brunch and lunch breaks are crucial points in a long and grueling school day. They provide a well-deserved break from the monotonous tune that sitting in a classroom for an entire hour and a half sings. Unfortunately, these breaks are too short.

The current length of the brunch break is absurd. Students in particular, need more time to socialize after enduring the torture of 90 minute blocks.  Many also need an opportunity to move around.

With the districts recent reduction in physical education requirements, brunch is one of the only times students may have to release tension through movement, like walking, playing basketball, or even stretching out.

Brunch may also be the only time for some students to fuel their bodies. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and should be treated as such.  The limited brunch schedule doesn’t allow students to eat a robust meal.

For those who do manage to pound down their food, the physical and mental trauma of rushing to eat before their next class is unnecessarily cruel.

Lunch is also poorly timed. Administrators seem to think that since lunch is 30 minutes long, there is plenty of time to sit down and eat. But after having to queue up for roughly 10 minutes each day and wait as the people in front of them slowly shuffle forward in lunch lines, those students whose classrooms are farther away from the quad are again forced to choke down their food.

Lunch should also be lengthened because it allows for students who may be struggling to visit teachers for individual support. Some may argue that the new “Academy” period is designed directly for such meetings. While this is true to some extent, Academy is less focused on each individual student’s needs and more focused on working with a broad topic most of the time. 

The district needs to add more minutes to the brunch and lunch periods in order to allow students to socialize, eat, get extra help, and refocus in order to make through the otherwise excruciating block schedule.