At Judge, there are many students who cannot drive yet. If their parents cannot pick them up right after school, they need someplace to stay, wait, and be productive with their time. We have Homework Lab for this on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, but on Thursdays and Fridays there aren’t many options for students. 

Homework labs have been proven to increase academic performance. Based on a study conducted by the Cantwell Sacred Heart of Mary High School in Montebello, California, after conducting a mandatory study hall schedule block, students’ overall grade point average rose by about half a point while honors students increased from 32% to 50%.

You can wait around school, but this limits productivity because it’s difficult to find a space to do homework. It would be ideal if there was some type of seating or tables where students could sit, wait, and complete work. To give parents more opportunities to earn service hours, it could be administered by parents to avoid possible liabilities. It would simply be a dedicated area for students to wait and be productive comfortably after school. 

The students who would normally be sitting on the stairs on their phones would be able to do work and manage their time better. This is especially good for students who have to wait for a long period of time, because just sitting around is a waste of valuable time, which is especially important for student athletes or students involved in extracurricular activities. This is often an overlooked issue because the majority of students have cars or parents who can pick them up, but there are still a large number of students who don’t have either of those things. 

On Thursdays, all faculty and staff have school wide meetings or professional development. Because of this, there isn’t anyone left to administer the homework lab on Thursdays. 

At the Feb. 21 Forum, Ms. Hendrickson said, “On Thursday after school, we’re either doing professional development or in faculty meetings. So we are limited with personnel to staff the Homework Lab.” I think that just having a table or place open for kids to sit and do homework would help reduce the amount of kids just wandering the school after school. Ms. Hendricksen also said “Could we staff it? We’d have to change the location of faculty meetings, but I definitely think it’s worth considering for the future.” 

For Fridays, there is a higher possibility of there being a homework lab. In the past, the homework lab was run on Fridays in addition to Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. However, there was a lack of attendance because many students have sports or hang out with their friends after school. 

In conclusion, a dedicated place for students to complete their homework after school with parent volunteers could help provide a solution to this problem.