Starting in the 2023 to 2024 school year, Portola High administration has adopted a new pep rally schedule involving two assemblies to accommodate the near 10 percent increase in the student body, according to Portola High’s registered students for the 2023 to 2024 school year.

The new schedule divides students into two groups depending on the room number of their fourth period class. Students in the first group attend the first pep rally, and those in the second group go to another pep rally right after with each lasting 40 minutes.

Portola High administration should switch back to the old pep rally schedule, where all students went to the same pep rally, and instead move them out to the football field to avoid overcrowding in the gym.

The old schedule was more organized and efficient compared to the new schedule, which has caused confusion regarding which pep rally to attend. A prominent issue has been some students accidentally going to the wrong pep rally and consequently missing class time.

“We always knew we were gonna have to split it once we reached a certain number of students,” ASB advisor and social studies teacher Emily Sheridan said. “We just got too big to fit everyone in the gym in one sitting, so we had to split it up, because we were over capacity.”  

Students performing in the pep rally are at a disadvantage with the new schedule since they have to miss half of second period and all of fourth period, ultimately impacting their academics, according to cheerleader and junior Kaylee Hwang. 

“I had to do classwork as homework and I have other homework for other classes,” Hwang said. “I feel like in the future, it’ll affect my grade negatively because usually when you have to take the test aside from the actual test day, you don’t get the curve, or you don’t get as much help.”

Such issues are disruptive to school life, but they can be easily avoided by following the old schedule and moving the pep rallies to the football field. Up until it died down, this approach was how the school managed to host pep rallies during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The football stadium has a larger capacity, meaning it can solve the original problem of overcrowding while still allowing all students to attend the same pep rally. 

Yet some students may argue that outdoor pep rallies are harder to sit through if there is bad weather and less engaging as the performers are farther away. 

“It’s a different vibe when you’re on the football field,” ASB advisor and literary and language arts teacher Kate Avery said. “When you’re in the bleachers, you don’t hear things as well, and you don’t have that same togetherness that you normally do.”

Despite these drawbacks, having one pep rally outdoors is better than having two pep rallies inside since it would minimize disruptions during school, which should be the priority. According to Avery, the performers are also much more tired having to go through two full pep rallies back-to-back. This may even impact their performance and lead to a less energetic pep rally for the second group.

The student confusion and the performers’ academic disadvantages associated with the new pep rally schedule have ended up just as troubling as the original issue the new schedule was meant to solve. Portola High ASB and administration should once more open up discussion about moving the pep rallies to the football field so they can return to a more straightforward format.