As students settle into the year, they have already begun noticing the effects of the new schedule. This schedule change will also affect affinity groups. In years prior, affinity groups met during tutorial once a week, but with the schedule change, affinity groups will meet during x-period. The groups will have significantly fewer meetings, with x-periods also used for senior speeches, clubs, and other events.

Affinity groups are a large part of the student community. There are 13 groups at SPA, each representing various pieces of one’s identity. Affinity groups are intended for students who are part of a specific ethnicity, race, religion, gender, etc., to have a place to talk and celebrate who they are. These groups have hosted events such as charities, food sales, guest speakers, and more.

Sophomore LaRon Johnson is a member of the Black Student Union Affinity Group (BSU). He shares about what affinity groups mean to him. “I just feel like it’s important to be around people that you really connect with and identify with,” said Johnson. “Especially knowing that we go to a primarily white school, it seems important.”

The schedule change and the shortened meetings have propelled affinity groups to adjust their plans for the year. Baasit Mahmood, one of the student leaders of the Muslim affinity group, is trying to work around the change. “We decided to meet every Thursday tutorial instead of just the specific affinity group times slots,” said Mahmood. “Ultimately, it might affect how much some of our members can meet with their teachers, but we also made it very clear to everybody that they are not forced to come to every one of our meetings,” said Mahmood.

Affinity groups offer culturally appropriate spaces for students, which groups are worried will be too sparse due to the schedule change. With less frequent meetings, students involved with affinity groups still plan to get as much out of it as possible, even if that means meeting outside the scheduled times during x-period.