London Orosco ’21 walked into A+ lunch on the second day of school, looking for a place to sit, when she noticed none of her friends were in her lunch. She was confused on why the lunch room was not overflowing like a normal lunch at a high school.

A+ lunch was a new addition to the 2018-19 school year. A+ lunch goes from 11:25-11:55, sharing five minutes with A lunch and five minutes with B lunch. The new lunch contains only 110 students compared to the normal 500. These decisions were made by vice principal Jerry Stratton. He argued that since this is a high school it would be difficult to split up 45 minute classes, because everyone is trying to fit in so much learning content, that originally making A+ lunch was a last minute idea and a risk, but so far he’s happy with his decision.

A lot of students who have A+ lunch have been wondering why their class was chosen for the lunch that breaks up fifth period. “One of the things I looked at was, do we have students who would enjoy the quieter atmosphere,” Stratton said. “Part of it was some classes that would be taking things in chunks, more about how the class was set up. And some of it was class flexibility. But a few teachers came to me saying that they would love to try it.”

“The reason A+ lunch is 10 minutes shorter than every other lunch is because the students don’t have to wait in the lunch line with 500 other students,” Stratton said. “So far, I haven’t had anyone come to me saying they couldn’t get their food and get it eaten in the thirty minutes they have.”

Students have not complained about the time period they have, but they do complain about other things that have to do with A+ lunch. “I think it’s a little unnecessary since it only has a couple of kids,” London Orosco ‘21 said. “That means some people are not going to have friends to talk or sit with. It is a very weird lunch and I wish to be in A or B lunch. The staff always say there is not enough room in the lunch room, but they do not know how many people actually sit in the lunch room and eat compared to how many of them actually leave [juniors and seniors].” 

The teachers who have A+ lunch like having it for the most part. Teachers said that after getting back from lunch, the students need about five minutes after getting back to adjust and get ready to learn more. “After the first five minutes or so, they’re all back and focused.” accounting teacher, Michael Barta said.

Some teachers are overjoyed to have A+ lunch. “I teach special needs and over time I’ve learned that sometimes they need a break between, and I think it helps them to come back and rejuvenate, and be on task for the last twenty minutes of class,” special education teacher, Patrick Mattingly said. 

For the future of A+ lunch, it seems as if the lunch will continue to grow. “Next year we’re probably going to have to assign probably another 100 to 150 kids to it because our school is not going to get smaller, so we have to come up with something workable and to see if we can find more classes willing to be apart of A+ lunch,” Stratton said. “A+ lunch will probably stay many years because our school won’t get any bigger but our school district will.”