Ramaz, at its heart, is a prestigious academic institution. Through the four years of our high school experience, students are being given the opportunity to have one of the best co-curriculum educations in the country, an exciting school spirit, and a wide variety of co-curricular clubs. We are coming from far and near to get the golden experience of being a Ramaz student. And this requires sacrifices as well as effort and maturity. 

At the beginning of this school year, the administration received emails from parents of commuters, asking for a change in the school day’s start time. This would give commuters time when arriving at school. However, in past years, davening was first period, giving commuting students leeway when they were late. They didn’t miss any class, taking a huge weight off their shoulders. This year, it’s been all messed up. Davening is after first period to ensure everyone’s timely arrival. Nonetheless, commuting students cannot control the traffic nor their arrival time. 

I think the school’s first mistake was not putting davening first. It gives the commuters time to get here and not miss any valuable class time. It’s not okay for commuting students to miss class just because they have no control over the traffic. 

Many alumni, including teachers and parents, have said that when they were students, at eight-fifteen in the morning exactly, late notes were given, and the number of notes went on your transcript. It was a simple system that has worked for years. There is no need to change that. 

Instead of starting the school day later, the administration decided to cut our day shorter. This did not benefit the students at all. Shaving fifteen minutes off of our day is pointless if most students are staying late for co-curricular activities. Cutting a minute off of every class benefits us in no way if we’re still chasing the late bus. It is the same in the morning; expecting the students to arrive at the exact time listed is not reasonable. 

Of course, students must factor in the commute when choosing a school. Whether you live on the Upper East Side or in Connecticut, you made the decision to come to Ramaz and live with the fact that you’re commuting every day. If the commute is too hard for you, you made the wrong decision. It’s as simple as that. But Ramaz shouldn’t make commuters’ lives harder.