By Natalie Herr ‘25
Prior to the 2023-2024 school year, Conestoga Valley High School (CVHS) had a period called FLEX, which was designed to enable students with opportunities to get work done, join clubs, catch up on work, etc. FLEX happened once every other Wednesday at the end of the school day. However, that period no longer exists in this year’s schedule.
Dr. Matthew Fox, CVHS Principal, explained the decision process: “I met with teachers, parents, and students over the summer to talk about the past couple years with Dr. Smith. I had them walk me through what are things we can keep the same, what are things we want to stop, and what are things that we want to bring back.
“One of the areas that a lot of teachers and parents shared was they felt like the FLEX time wasn’t used as well and as much as its intention. And that a lot of our clubs that met, already met before or after school.”
CV students weighed in on how they feel about the change. Some didn’t have strong feelings. A junior, Niocolette Frey, said, “It wasn’t my favorite thing, but it gave me a chance to complete things since I never had a study hall.”
Others expressed disappointment. “I did enjoy FLEX,” said Cheyanne Plank (11). “FLEX was a time for many clubs, extra curriculars, and teachers to catch up on different things. I saw many people with ipads and papers out, doing work for their classes….FLEX provided a proper amount of time to do work before having to go home and multitask all of our priorities.”
Jayden Souders (12) said, “I loved FLEX because it gave me extra time to catch up when we were getting a lot of it.” However, he added that “some were working and others were just messing around, and I think they took advantage of it. That’s why I think they decided to take the period away.”
Jayden was not the only student noting that many students were off-task during the FLEX period. Students would be on their phones, talking to friends, or being a distraction to those who were actually utilizing the period of what it was for. This frustrated many, and was the main part of Dr. Matthew Fox’s decision to no longer continue the FLEX period.
Some students appreciate the change. “I didn’t like it that much to be honest” said Senior Olivia Johnson. “There was never enough time for the Esports club, and things usually turned out unproductive…FLEX wasn’t utilized enough, I don’t think.”
“I really didn’t like it, because I feel like there was no point, and I would just sit there for an hour and do nothing,” said Luke Needham (12).
The change did impact some clubs who used FLEX time to assemble their members. English teacher and Yearbook Advisor Mrs. Katie Fake said, “Having FLEX for Yearbook Club was very helpful because we could go out to get interviews with students and take photos. Not having it limits how much we are able to get students we need for our coverage in the yearbook.
“Not having FLEX forced us to rearrange our schedule a bit. We now meet before school, which is not effective and overlaps with so many other clubs that it makes our attendance inconsistent.”
Aside from those involved in clubs, it seems that many in the CV community appreciate the change. Luke Needham called the old FLEX period “pointless,” and said that not having FLEX this year makes his Wednesdays much more enjoyable.