By Lydia ’26
Hello all! My name is Lydia and I am a current 8th grader here at Harvard-Westlake! Today I will be talking about my student life and how I am managing school life!
At the middle school, we operate on a 6-day rotation cycle with 9 forty-minute periods in a day. Each period gives you one free period (called X) per cycle, except for your 2nd-period class or if you have a semester-long course (those give you 3 X periods per cycle). During 2nd period, we have Class Meeting. Seventh grade meets on Day 2, 8th grade on Day 4, and 9th grade on Day 6. During Class Meeting, your whole grade convenes in the Saperstein Theatre and your deans address any new events or bring in a guest speaker.
Our school days always start at 8:00 am and end at 3:05 pm. On Mondays, we sometimes have assemblies during break. Assembly runs 10 minutes longer than normal break so those days, classes end at 3:15 pm.
My schedule this year is pretty balanced. For example, on Day 1, I have periods 1 and 8 free but on day 4, I have none. Everyone has a different schedule. It just depends on the electives you take. Students who take fewer electives will get more free periods. I, for example, have a lot of extra-curricular activities and electives I am taking here at Harvard-Westlake. I just completed the Volleyball season and I will begin soccer this trimester. I am a proud member of the Student Ambassador Program and play the violin in the Middle School Symphony. I just completed my role as stage crew for this year’s musical called All Together Now.
At my old school, we didn’t have a lot of free time, so these 2 years, I’ve gotten to know a lot more people using these free periods and becoming self-reliant. But, you want to make sure your free periods aren’t only used for fun. You should use them for homework, or studying too. As long as you have a good work/life balance, you can manage your homework, and have fun! Good luck to any prospective families reading this!
