Kicking off the 2023-24 school year, students were forced to say goodbye to study hall as the district removed it as an option for students. The decision wasn’t well received by students, parents, teachers or counseling staff. Many raised concerns over lack of time, especially for students who work, play sports, take advanced classes or do some combination of the three.

For students identified with academic struggles — such as those failing multiple classes, deficient in credits or who have been recognized by teachers and administration to need extra study time during the school day — Academic Intervention Support Hour was created. With just 63 students enrolled in the course, there is currently a waitlist for students trying to get into the course — and no one has moved up. 

“That process [of the waitlist] is still being formulated. We’re still getting emails from parents and it’s hard to explain to them that we no longer offer [study hall],” building counselor Jennifer Wibbenmeyer said, “There’s no option for [other students] right now, and that’s what scares me as a counselor. I’m really worried about how some of these students are going to keep performing academically and find the success that they should be finding when they just don’t have that time to commit to their studies.”

Not only is the lack of a consistent study period creating concern over academic performance, but it’s also the reason many students are avoiding harder classes. Chemistry teacher Chloe Gallaher has been teaching at West for 15 years and saw several students this past year drop AP and Honors Chemistry classes to make up for the absence of study time throughout the school day.

“Having a study hall is a way [some students] acclimate to high school and the demands of homework and things that they didn’t have to in middle school. It’s a very different atmosphere that students walk into when they come into high school,” Gallaher said.

Many schools have recognized the need for a mandatory study hall. At Cantwell Sacred Heart of Mary High School, after a few months of holding a mandatory study hall, students’ overall GPA rose by 0.5%, and the number of honors students increased from 32% to 50%.

Thus, in a school that encourages students to take advanced classes, the lack of support being offered to kids is essentially setting us up to fail. Research students at Saint Xavier University found that homework is the top stressor for students around the country. This especially applies to students who cannot work at home.

“I haven’t been able to do much work on school nights at home because of the extracurricular activities that I’m doing every single night. So that forces me to [do] my homework in the car driving [to] places, takes away from my social life or ability to hang out with my friends on weekends because I’m too busy doing my homework,” sophomore Lila Kayser said.

On top of being a dancer who trains between three to six hours per school day, Kayser is enrolled in four advanced classes, which makes the discontinuation of study hall detrimental to her academic performance. Last year, she was enrolled in study hall both semesters and found them vital to her success in school. She is not an anomaly. The ERIC Institute of Educational Science found that a utilized study hall can reduce impending homework by 50%. 

To compensate for the removal of study halls, the administration hopes to emphasize AcLab by making the session more focused on academics to improve students’ success in the classroom. However, AcLab is not a viable substitute for this at West since it continues to be co-opted as homeroom time, with classes often interrupted to practice emergency drills, attend class meetings, go to assemblies and participate in club meetings. 

“We used to have a homeroom time, where we met with students every once in a while,” Gallaher said. “It’s just a shorter time that we have where the sole purpose is to build connections with that teacher and they can kind of help watch grades and hold you accountable. That would be more beneficial than what we’re currently doing.”

While students tolerated the inconsistency of AcLab study time when they had a study hall option, now with their removal, the new lack of time to complete assignments and work in school is becoming a frustration for several students. 

“I’ve been a lot more stressed out and I feel overwhelmed because I have a lot of things that need to get done and not enough time to do that,” Kayser said. “I also stay up too late finishing my homework, and I’m not getting enough sleep.”

Furthermore, without study hall, students in programs like “Spark!” or “South Tech” that require them to be off-campus for a part of the school day face difficulties in terms of accessibility to teacher assistance.

“Spark! students don’t have a study hall, and they’re having to find different times to come in. Sometimes you can’t be available at the time [they want to come in], and then it’s the question of ‘is the teacher going to be here? Is it too late? Do they have a family? Do they have to leave at 3 p.m.?” Gallaher said.

Although the district stated that their decision followed suit with other public schools in the city, such as Clayton, schools like Kirkwood still offer multiple forms of academic support for their students. Furthermore, schoolwide study time at Clayton is offered four times a week, double what is currently available at West.

This leaves us with the question: what do we do to remedy the lack of time and support for students? While there’s a multitude of steps we could take to help our students, separating homeroom activities from a study hall is a vital initial step. 

“[Ac-Lab] is just forcing me to sit there when there’s work that needs to be done,” Kayser said. “Study halls were really nice because it was just quiet for an hour and a half, I could just sit there, knock out all my homework and get everything done. Versus in AcLabs, I feel like there’s [a lot of] movement, and the bell is ringing, and we’re going places. It takes away from being able to do your work without having to stop.”