Fashionably late

The Late Arrival Protocol was introduced to allow students who have managed times in the morning to come in later than the start of the school day, and it is eligible to Juniors and Seniors. Students are able to sign up for it, as well as Early Release, on PowerSchool. In addition, students have to fill out a form (obtained from the Counseling Office) and be in good academic standing to be able to qualify for Late Arrival and Early Release. Once a student has submitted their form, their assistant principal approves it. If a student receives Late Arrival or Early Release, they can choose to make use of it for the whole year.

Students have found the Late Arrival Protocol to be effective for various reasons, ranging from being able to attain more hours of sleep to attending appointments. Junior Gina Spinazzola highlights the topic of sleeping-in, stating that Late Arrival is particularly useful for student-athletes who tend to stay up late finishing homework due to a sports event earlier that day. “I think [late arrival] is a good idea because after only getting a few hours of sleep it’s much harder to get up early, but with late arrival you get that extra time to sleep in or have extra time to finish up some work.” Junior Jessica Lin also mentions the benefit of sleeping in, as well as having the time to schedule appointments or other personal businesses without being marked tardy: “I love having late arrival because if I accidentally sleep in or have an appointment, I won’t be marked tardy.” It is evident then, that late arrival can help increase a student’s productivity during the school day by enabling them to catch up on some much-needed sleep, as well as assist in relieving the stress of student-athletes. There are also other perks to coming in late, as mentioned by Lin, “I think [late arrival] is good for parking because there tends to be less traffic, and I think it’s pretty effective.”  

In conclusion, the Late Arrival Protocol is a welcome addition to Bedford High School, as it has proved itself to be effective, and is embraced by many students because of its many perks, including more hours of sleep, less traffic, and more personal free time.