Going to school may be hard enough as it is, but going to yet another school during the day? It may be more complicated than it seems.

Many students this year, 97 to be exact, are going to different academy classes, such as animal science at Edison, fashion at Fairfax, criminal justice at Falls Church, physical therapy at West Potomac, JROTC at Chantilly, nursing at a college institute and STEM robotics at Marshall.

These are only a couple of classes that are offered at different locations, so that students can get a glimpse of what their potential future career requires.

These classes are getting people more involved in their community and thinking about the future.

Academy classes also give students an opportunity to gain an leg up in college admissions, since they would already have some knowledge before getting into college.

Junior Ioana Marin is very happy with her professional musical theater class. “The class helps me with my college auditions and dance and vocal classes. It’s an amazing start for someone who is serious about being in show business,” Marin said.

There is also a JROTC class. Attendees include senior Gabby White and junior Adam Tran, who both have an interest in joining the Army or Air Force. White already enlisted in the Air Force, so attending this class has benefited her greatly.

“I really enjoy the class, and I feel like it’s helping me prepare for what;s coming later,” White said.

But along with the benefits of taking these classes, there are a few significant downsides.

There is often difficulties in getting to and from the supplementary classes. Bus drivers are constantly changing, leading to delayed arrivals and departures.

The delays are usually no more than ten minutes, but as the saying goes, every second counts. Those few minutes can cause problems for academy students as they have only two class periods to get to and attend their class at the second school, come back, and get to their classes here on time.

Arriving late means missing crucial information in class, which makes it hard to succeed.

“I always miss the first couple minutes of my W8 class,” Marin said. “I also don’t have much time for lunch; I have to eat ahead of time, during W4.”

Marin isn’t the only academy student whose time for lunch is cut short. A majority of academy students miss part of lunch because of limited time. Some students don’t have lunch at all.

“I heard fashion students don’t have a lunch period here or at Fairfax,” sophomore Safia Ahmed said. “They have to eat lunch on the bus and in between classes.”

Even though there are complications, students seem to really enjoy their classes. Hopefully, the issues will be sorted out.