This year, Guilford is trying something different, but not entirely new: open campus lunch. Guilford has not had an open campus policy since long before the current students and staffs were here.

Open campus lunch will only be open to seniors who meet certain requirements. They must have a permission slip signed, good grades, and a history of good behavior.

“We have a lot of consequences for bad behavior. Open campus is a nice privilege, a reward, for kids with good behavior,” said Mrs. Ashley Carlson, assistant principal. “The biggest concern is safety and not rushing because students will think they are late to class.”

The main concern of students is the process in which they can participate in open campus. Many think that having to be approved and then giving security guards their ID’s before they leave the school is a bit of a hassle.

“It is unfair that we have to walk around to the main office from the student parking lot in the back of the school whenever we return from going out,” said Miriam Hernandez, senior. “Maybe I will participate in open campus one day a week, or even one day every two weeks.”

Another new feature this year to Guilford is “late start.” Every Thursday, the school day does not begin until 9:25 a.m. instead of its usual time at 8:30 a.m. This new setup allows teachers, administrators, and other school officials to have weekly meetings to better improve the school, while giving students some time to do things such as catching up on tests or detentions.

“Students can go work on Edmentum to work on credit recovery,” said Mrs. Carlson. “We want this to be a time to work on academics.”

Students are already becoming somewhat familiar with late start, which began on September 7th. Eventually, Guilford plans on allowing students to fill the time by working on Khan Academy, SAT prep, and possibly open gyms. However, as of now, many students who take the bus are left with staying in the cafeteria and commons from 8:30 to 9:15 with not much to do.

“Having to sit around for an hour was pretty boring,” said Faith Bruecks, freshman, one of many students who takes the bus every day. “I wish there were more things to do. The cafeteria was too loud to do work in; I wish the library was open.”