AcLab is getting more and more complicated every year.

In 2019, we had FLEX time, which was the first version of Ac Lab. There were no sign ups, and one could walk freely around the school to any class they wanted at any time. It gave the students more freedom and choice to do what they needed with their 90 minutes.

Last year, we were introduced to scheduled 45-minute modules, which ended up being messy. Some students wouldn’t be in the classes they had their Ac Lab cards signed for, some would show up unprompted and some would overcrowd rooms with large groups of friends.

All of this brings us to what we have in place now: the new and improved Responsive Scheduling. The responsive schedule allows students to sign up for mods “more efficiently” on Infinite Campus, rather than get an AC Lab card signed.

But, is it really that much of an improvement? I don’t think so.

Although Responsive Scheduling allows for teachers to better keep track of who is in their classroom during what mod or to even request certain students to come to their classroom, it has its flaws.

One flaw is there are only a certain amount of seats per classroom. This has been a problem since last year, when we had AC Lab cards. The 45-minute mods prevent any traveling up until the 5 minute passing period in between the two mods. Once classes are filled up for each mod, other students can no longer sign up for those specific classrooms.

This is a problem because with Responsive Scheduling, teachers can’t kick out students who they did not request. Students who may need to ask questions, take a test and more might not be able to sign up unless they sign up before that classroom reaches capacity.

Another flaw is the order of the teachers on the responsive schedule drop down menu. I find it hard to sign up for a teacher’s mod because there is no search option and the teacher’s names aren’t in any specific alphabetical order. Associate Principal Dr. Tracey Waeckerle, said the reason for this flaw is because Infinite Campus said it was an issue in the system that could not be fixed.

I hope that the administration and the creators of Responsive Scheduling will look at these concerns and try to fix them for future AC Labs.