Saturday School has been a part of Gunn’s disciplinary policy regarding tardies for four years and continues to play its role in reducing the number of students who come to school late and cut class. According to Assistant Principal Phil Winston, the key to its effectiveness is its ability to act as a disincentive, since attending Saturday School is not something that many students find palatable on their day off from school.

“Saturday School is a deterrent,” Winston said. “It encourages people to get to class on time by deterring people to come to Saturday School.”

Some students agree with Winston’s assessment of Saturday School and its knack of getting students to get to class on time and refrain from cutting class. According to sophomore Caitlin Levinson, Saturday School is a place where, “you have to sit and think about the consequences of your tardies for four hours when you could have been sleeping instead.”

“It’s effective because people don’t want to be tardy, but some people will just keep cutting and coming to class late, whether they go to Saturday School or not,” Levinson said.

The policy states that Saturday School is assigned to students who receive five or more tardies. If three to five tardies are received, then a warning is generally give out to that particular student. Aside from being late to class, getting four or more cuts is a way to end up spending time in Saturday School.

The Saturday School schedule consists of students showing up in the library by 8 a.m. followed by a 10-minute snack break at 10 p.m. and a finish by 12 p.m. According to Dean of Students James Lubbe students cannot just show up at Saturday School and expect to just sit around and not be productive. “Schoolwork must be done,” Lubbe said. “Students cannot sit around and do nothing, listen to their iPods or sleep.”

This means no electronics, and students are obliged to bring some sort of school-related material to work on.

Although some students were able to be productive during the four-hour period in Saturday School by doing their homework, it did not change their perspective on getting to class on time or abstaining from cutting class. “It didn’t really do anything,” sophomore Robert Wiszowaty said. “I did some school work, but it was the biggest waste of my time, I just sat there in a chair for four hours.”

If students fail to report to their assigned session of Saturday School, then they are expected to come the next Saturday. In addition, if students come late to Saturday School then they will not be admitted and Saturday School will be reassigned. Students who do not come to Saturday School may also face suspension, depending on the circumstances. Students who return late from the 10-minute break provided will be required to attend an additional hour of Saturday School or an hour after school the next week.