Having a study hall is a simple concept in which students often feel bored and choose to socialize. At Westerville North High School, students are getting in trouble for not focusing or causing a disturbance during their study hall period. Administration has created a modified study hall as a solution to this problem. A modified study hall is where teachers actively help kids with their work and help them to stay on task, fully using the period to complete their work.
The administration at North has been trying newer policies this year such as the electronic policy and hall passes. This is another example of trying to maximize the time given to help kids succeed. This new process has been enlisted over the last two weeks and has had mixed opinions from many students.
Rhyann McKibben (2025) believes that “Teachers have been enforcing more rules and have been helping more, but regular study hall teachers are still not helping” McKibben said. Students have increased their disciplines towards school work over socialization. It is only three weeks into the semester, so the end of quarter results will paint a clearer picture of effectiveness.
Administration has also seen results on this new process. Assistant Principal Shayna Wade-Argus comments on the situation, “Students who have wanted a quiet place have gotten that, and teachers managing now [makes] it easier to have specific expectations for this workspace,” Wade-Argus said.
This whole semester teachers are going to be more involved as it took the idea of math help and made it so now if kids need the help, they can get it, with teachers actively available to help them with work.