Sedona Sweginnis | Sports Editor
September 20, 2024
The tide is high and students are drowning in a sea of anxiety. Is this new format of Tutorial really allowing students to achieve greater academic potential or is it simply weighing them down?
One of the many changes that came with the dawn of this new school year is a reformed version of Tutorial at SCHS. This year, a new program, known as TIDE Time, has been implemented in place of the traditional Tutorial system. Tide Time incorporates a new program called Enriching Students where students must sign up for the classes that they desire to attend for the TIDE period each day, in contrast to Tutorial where students simply attend an assigned class.
TIDE Time was designed in hopes of providing an atmosphere where students could seize control of their own academic careers, providing them with autonomy to shape their schedules to fit their unique needs. At the beginning of the year, many students looked forward to the freedom TIDE Time would provide and to the opportunity to ensure that they were always where they needed to be to receive extra assistance and improve upon their academic weaknesses.
However, many students have found that what was thought to be an opportunity for freedom has actually turned into a chore. Sophomore Isabella Cameron explains that she appreciates the ability to “choose where [she goes]” for TIDE Time, but the fleeting sense of freedom is unfortunately outweighed by the chore of “[signing] up by a certain time” to avoid detention. As a dedicated student-athlete, Cameron already finds herself immensely busy, and TIDE Time has become “just one more thing [she has] to remember.” Recalling the structure that Tutorial provided in previous years, Cameron explains that she misses the simplicity of the old system.
Similarly, an issue has arisen with classes filling up as tests approach, blocking many students from reviewing material with their teachers before tests. Junior Natalie Deyhimy laments that “the seats often fill up for the classes [she] needs to attend for a test or extra help,” preventing her from receiving the assistance she needs. Deyhimy recognizes the value of choosing where she goes to optimize her academic achievement, but she explains that the purpose is defeated if the class is full and she “does not “get to go there anyway.”
While TIDE Time offers students more direct control over which classes they attend for the TIDE period, Tutorial offers a similar option, while also providing more structure. Although students were assigned a specific class for Tutorial, the option of going to a different class was still available. Students were able to fill out a slip and have their teachers sign it, allowing them to attend a class they need help in rather than the assigned class they were given. This system offered some freedom in choosing one’s classes while also providing the structure that many students prefer.
While many teachers are excited about the new TIDE Time system, many find it difficult and confusing. As opposed to taking attendance of a familiar Tutorial class, teachers now have to take attendance based on constantly changing TIDE Time rosters. Although he sees potential in the new TIDE system, Mr. O’Rourke finds that the TIDE system “is not intuitive” as he takes attendance of a shuffled TIDE class each day.
Although TIDE Time is an excellent idea with great potential, the current students of SCHS find it to be a complicated burden with the comforting structure of Tutorial still fresh in their minds. As the school year progresses, there is still hope that TIDE scheduling may fall into a routine and help students as it was intended. However, the question still lingers: was Tutorial better?
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