Apparently starting this semester (2nd semester 2007-8), Arundel High School is starting 50-minute lunches (as opposed to 25). Just how they managed to get a different schedule than the other county high schools--or how they managed to eke out an additional 25 minutes of lunch without affecting other classes--isn't specified. However, the idea of this plan is to increase student achievement by allowing extra time for help and supervised studying, as well as extracurricular activities. Given our problems with after-school transportation (i.e., students without cars or on-call parents can't stay after for help, sports, or other extracurriculars), a 50-minute lunch has considerable promise, even though staff is a bit wary of students running around "unsupervised" for so long!