Two years ago, then-eighth grader Megan Worry sat down with The Catalyst and shared her thoughts on the homework load at NDB based on her shadow day experience. Worry is now a sophomore at NDB, and The Catalyst checked in with her again to see how her opinion has changed after attending NDB for almost a year and a half.

The Catalyst (TC): Do you think NDB students get a reasonable amount of homework?
Megan Worry (MW): I think it really depends on the classes that someone signs up for, like, if you sign up for like, a ton of harder classes, then you’ll probably get the homework load that’s expected with that course. So, I would say that I get a little bit too much homework, but like, it’s pretty decent.

TC: How much homework do you think that NDB students get in comparison to other schools?
MW: I mean, I’ve talked to my other friends and I think they get a little bit less. I do understand that it’s college preparatory, but I think some teachers can be less understanding that we have a bunch of other classes and also a social life.

TC: How much time, on average, do you spend on homework every day?
MW: I would say three to four hours on school nights, and then over the weekend, probably around five hours.

TC: How has your opinion on homework changed over the last two years?
MW: I mean last year, I think with online learning I would do homework during lunch or during breaks, and it was, like, really easy to do because it was just at your desk. And so I think this year, I have more homework because of having less time between classes.

TC: Have you ended up getting more homework than you expected when you were a shadow at NDB?
MW: Definitely. When I was a shadow here, my shadow host said she got around 45 minutes every night. And that has definitely not been true for me. I don’t know if she was just trying to get me to like the school or if she honestly just did not have that much homework, but that has not been true for me.