High school students live very busy lives that usually result in extremely late nights. From late shifts at work to sports practices to play rehearsals, there is very limited time for students to meet with teachers for remediation let alone complete their assignments, while still maintaining a decent amount of rest. 

Knight Zone, formerly known as Blue Zone offers the solution to this all too familiar problem. Offering remediation and academic help to students during school hours, as Knight Zone is set to do, will alleviate these stresses in a manner that is not only convenient but also accessible to all North Penn students. 

Although it was originally introduced at the beginning of the school year as a potential idea, Knight Zone has now become a plan in full bloom that is set to pilot in the coming weeks. 

“We are looking to do a two-week pilot, from March 11th until spring break. [After that], we will send some surveys out to students, teachers, parents, and families and get their responses,” North Penn High School Principal Kyle Hassler stated. “Then we have the week of spring break to evaluate and see if we want to do it for the remainder of the year or [should we] go back to the regular schedule and possibly bring [Knight Zone] back at the beginning of next school year.”

The news of the bill passing has permeated throughout the halls, however, many of those hearing about Knight Zone are not sure what it entails. 

“Knight Zone will be 42 minutes, from 7:21 till 8:03. [To do that], we are taking three minutes from each period, and adding it to what Knight Time was, so every period will be 42 minutes and the school day will still end at 2:12,” Hassler stated. “Lunches will adjust by a few minutes, but it doesn’t make a huge change to the end of each class because it is only three minutes from each one.”

Along with alleviating a lot of pressure on students, traffic will also be positively affected, as admission will be stretched over a longer period. 

“One of the effects of [Knight Zone] will be a reduction of traffic coming in at 7:20,” North Penn High School Principal Kyle Hassler stated.

“It is a rolling admission to the building from 7:20 until 8:00, [so] the school day will officially start at 7:20, but attendance won’t be taken until 8:05, in your first-period class.” 

During the admission time frame, morning check-in will look slightly different than it currently does. 

“Up until 7:20, all three entrances will be open, the way that they currently are for students to scan in. After 7:20, we will close the bus lobby and the gym lobby, and the only way for students to enter will be the main entrance, but students can come in at any time.”

There are some instances, however, where students will be required to arrive at 7:20 instead of during the rolling admission time frame. 

“Because the school day technically starts at 7:20, we can require students to come in [for class meetings]. We still have the flexibility to [hold them], but we would have to give people plenty of notice. From now on, information on class meetings would have to go out at least two weeks in advance, so people are prepared.”

Other than the name and some small kinks, the skeleton of Knight Zone has stayed relatively the same. 

“The general idea of it is untouched,” Hassler stated. “When we are looking at Knight Zone, it will be five days a week, [as planned], the only change is that we have ironed out some of the smaller things [such as] the tech students as their schedule is not changing, at least for the pilot.”

Considerations like these will be communicated to those involved, however, major changes will not occur until it is confirmed that Knight Zone will continue after the pilot. 

“It depends on how the pilot goes. We haven’t had a full-on discussion on what it would look like at North Montco, but we do have an idea of what we would do if it extends,” Hassler said. “[We plan to] work with the students in those classes and communicate everything to them and their families so they are aware of what it is. But at this point, because we don’t know if it is going the whole year, so we don’t want to make any Jurassic changes for just two weeks.”

Another kink that has been addressed is the security concerns that were brought up during the initial proposal. 

“Sercurity-wise, we will have security throughout the building,” Hassler stated. “If there are students in the hallway, we will have security and administration posted in every pod so that we can monitor and take care of the hallways and the common spaces so the students who want to take care of remediation with teachers can have a quiet space [to do so].”

“We have a plan in place to address [unstructured people in the hallways and security], and we have gone over that with staff and students and I feel as though we have everything covered,” Hassler continued. “But that is why we want to do a pilot too, we want to see if any concerns come up or if we need to make any changes.”

Overall, the North Penn community has been in support of Knight Zone and sees the vision behind the new remediation period. 

“Everybody has been positive [about Knight Zone] and sees the positive benefit of giving kids the chance to get remediation during the school day, so it is accessible for everybody. The hope is for students who have athletics or a job can get [academic] help during Knight Zone, and they won’t need to schedule [time] outside of school hours.”

After a much build-up, Knight Zone will be piloting before Spring Break and information will be sent out to students and families in the near future. 

“We are approved for the pilot and we are working on a pamphlet that we are going to send out on February 26th to all students and families that outlines everything, so we have all of the information out there,” Hassler stated. “Then we are going to take the 26th up until March 11th to continue to send out a lot of reminders and information so that everyone is fully aware of what is going on.”