This year Kennedy students found themselves facing a new schedule. Instead of going with the trimester schedule, the Cedar Rapids School District switched to a semester schedule.

“I prefer trimesters because finals are over less material and are easier,” Alli Maiers, sr., said.

Finals are taken twice a year with the new schedule, one after winter break one near the end of the school year. With trimesters, finals were taken three times.

“I like trimesters because when we are in semesters we take finals after break, and then I don’t remember any of the stuff I learned,” Evyn DeWitte, so., said.

Some students are glad to have semesters because their breaks and days off are the same as other schools.

“Our breaks didn’t match up with other schools, and now this year our spring break is the same,” Maiers said.

Cedar Rapids schools now have less half-days in their schedule than previous years.

“I’d rather have more half-days, like when we had trimesters,” DeWitte said.

Students also have to take a PE class for at least one semester each school. This differs from previous years when students could have wavers and took PE for one trimester, which was a shorter period of time.

“I don’t like having to take gym a whole semester because people who are in other sports shouldn’t have to take it and some people don’t have room in their schedule,” Maiers said.