Athens Drive welcomed back the notorious Smart Lunch this past September. This year, Smart Lunch was met with a wide range of emotions and reactions from students and teachers.
Smart Lunch is the idea that students are given a 45-minute lunch period and 50 if they have an off-campus lunch pass. Students may use the lunch pass to go off campus or sit in their cars. Students are also allowed to eat in different locations throughout the school such as the library and teachers’ classrooms.
The administration brought back Smart Lunch for the 2024-2025 school year after student leaders and the administration met to discuss its possible benefits.
Students at Athens Drive were joyous when Smart Lunches’ return was officially announced. Some were nervous about how long it would last, given the number of students at Athens and the number of altercations that have occurred within the past year.
Due to Smart Lunch returning, teachers were asked to leave their classrooms and patrol the hallways, parking lots and other spots open during lunch. To prepare for Smart Lunch coming back, the school added a few more benches and tables to the courtyard.
Administration wanted to implement Smart Lunch academic priority days to provide students with additional classroom support.
However, for students,this newfound freedom comes with certain restrictions. If students stay on campus they are not allowed to have more than one person in the car at a time.
To make sure students without off-campus lunch passes stay on campus some of the Assistant Principals have put a golf cart to use, riding up and down the parking lot stopping students who are leaving campus and asking them to provide their off-campus lunch passes. Additionally, assistant principals have even gone as far as to chase after cars that do not provide their off-campus lunch passes.
Assistant Principal Ryan Piccolo shares what his responsibilities include now that Smart Lunch is back.
“I oversee the safety and well-being of students during lunch. Sometimes it is in the parking lot on the golf cart, sometimes it is inside in the gym lobby or cafeteria,” said Piccolo.
Piccolo has also suggested he wants to ensure that with Smart Lunch coming back there are no altercations and that students maintain safety.
There has been a toss-up of different reactions to Smart Lunch coming back to the Drive.
“I think Smart Lunch is a great resource for our students who want to use their lunchtime to catch up on schoolwork and for those who never had a chance to eat with their friends as they had separate lunches in the past years,” said Piccolo.
American History Teacher Conner Bayer shares what in his opinion is a benefit of Smart Lunch coming back to Athens Drive.
“There are multiple student benefits to Smart Lunch. For one, students have a longer time to eat their lunch and/or go off campus to get lunch and can get back to school safely without the need to rush. Secondly, students have a built-in period each week in which they know their teachers are available to receive extra support, makeup tests or quizzes, and/or get caught up on missing or late work. Lastly, it’s a chance for clubs and extracurriculars to meet during the school day without taking away from class time and without the need to meet after school hours,” said Bayer.
There were many different opinions on Smart Lunch coming back including the opposing opinions on Smart Lunch coming back.
“I, admittedly, was on the fence when I heard Smart Lunch was coming back. I’ve been at Athens Drive for almost 10 years now, so I’ve seen multiple lunch schedule iterations used throughout my time here with mixed results,” said Bayer.
So far Smart Lunch has been running smoothly at Athens Drive. Students and teachers are excited to see how it continues to benefit our school.
