As the excitement and apprehension of starting a new school year wear off, students are starting to settle and get used to being back in the building.

Wichita Public Schools officially started its school year on August 13, and while I can’t talk for other students or faculty, I feel like the first few weeks have been going by relatively quickly. Our experiences and stories from our first few days are varied with the rush of new schedules and being pushed into new environments and standards, but I can at least offer my opinion on how the school year has been like so far.

To offer some perspective, I am a sophomore this year at North. I was in the building for the last few months of last year, but due to COVID, this will be my first year in the building and on North’s regular schedule.

To be frank; it’s been weird. Not what I would consider to be bad, per se, but I wouldn’t call it great either.

Being unfamiliar with the block schedule which splits classes into two days and the mass of students which attend this school was overwhelming, to say the least. While, yes, I did eventually get used to it, the first few days were rough. My experience from last year, only around 400 students as opposed to the 2,200+ walking through the halls now, prepared me for nothing. Passing periods are crowded and it can be hard to get through the busier hallways, and it’s not something I had never dealt with before on a regular basis.

Also, the transfer of the 4 x 4 schedule to the regular schedule was certainly a transition I had to get used to. Having two different schedules was confusing at first, but after understanding the layout of the school a bit more and planning the best routes to my classes, it became easier. Plus, with any of my classes, except for a few online assignments, I’ll always have at least two nights to complete any homework assigned, so that was an aspect that I now.

Another thing is that meeting all my new teachers and getting to know how they run their classes was interesting to me. Every educator is different in their rules and expectations and it’s nice to be able to have those first few weeks, or maybe even just a few days, of soft sailing to get to know them.

Now, with classes getting more into content rather than startup procedures, a steady routine is being put into place and classes are finally settling. Teachers are getting to know their students and vice versa, and relationships and baselines are being built. That’s always been a part of the start of the school year that I appreciate.

Now I’m curious- how were your first weeks of school?