This school year, students and teachers of Naugatuck High School have been overheard complaining about their flex period getting removed due to COVID and question if they’ll ever get that time for flex back. 

Flex was removed from the schedule because of COVID-19. Multiple schools around the country decided to omit this period to maintain  the safety of students and facilities. It would be difficult to trace possible cases of COVID if students are always in different places. Schools were also under guidelines to restrict student movement and how many others each students comes in contact with came in contact with

The Website ‘Enriching Students’ stated  “Teachers are stressed. Parents are stressed. Students are stressed. This school year has been overwhelming for just about everyone. As schools have done their best to try to navigate how to safely give students the best learning experience they can, they’ve had to make some tough decisions.”

Flex, a time of day that allows students to choose what they will work on during a set period of time each day,provides students a chance to choose what they’ll be interested  in during the week. It gives teachers more time with  students that need additional help or opportunities for extension activities. 

“Flex was a period that we had in between the 1st and 2nd periods, I believe. Similar to what we have for advisory currently. What it meant was, you could have time to either meet with your clubs, get extra help, or enrichment during the day,” said Mrs. Megan Sherry in an interview with The Greyhound News. 

Some critics argued that flex is a period for students to roam around freely but it’s way more than that. It gives students a chance to try new things and get help with classes.  

Speaking with Mr. Harris, The Principle of Naugatuck High School, He mentioned, “ One in terms of academics, it was carving out time in the day for students to go get the extra help, the extra support they needed in any of their classes. Or to just go, many of the teachers did different things in their room to build relationships around,” said Mr. John Harris, principal of Naugatuck High School, in an interview with The Greyhound News.

What was the most enjoyable part of flex, “Being able to hang out with friends. And being able to do school work. Before class, like a little mini study hall.  I was able to do classwork there if I was missing it, or if It was due that day, so it was beneficial.” said J.E during her interview with The Greyhound News. 

From a student’s perspective, it sounded amazing. The chance to hang out with friends, with a teacher you enjoy, take part in activities, and learn things outside of the classroom. For example like chess, learning Swedish, and talking to the friends you made or lost contact with.