A new school year means a new routine. Students develop different ways to get to classes, unique studying habits and new routes to get home.

With about 200 new students being added every year, teachers and administrators were forced to add another routine to students’ schedules, a new lunch to the 2016-2017 school year.

The student population has grown from 2,444 to 2,664 since June 2016.

Now, students eat in one of three lunch periods. A lunch at 11:29-11:59, B lunch at 12:28-12:58 and C lunch at 1:27-1:57, versus last year’s schedule consisting of only A and B.

“We expect 200 more students every year,” school principal Michael Wahl said. “With 220 more kids [this year], we wanted to get a jump start.”

Students suggested switching to a bell schedule similar to the one nearby Northeast ISD schools Claudia Taylor Johnson High School and James Madison High School follow. These high schools have schedules adapted to give students an approximately 50-minute lunch. The students’ school days consist of eight periods, with fourth, fifth or sixth period designated for lunch.

However, administrators do not think this schedule would work.

“Creating an eight-period day reduces the minutes for each class,” Superintendent Andrew Kim said, “and thus reduce the instructional time available to teachers and students.”

Students have mixed feelings about the new schedule. Athletes, such as sophomore Shaun Besch, who has B lunch this year, would prefer a different lunch.

“My [swim] practices are in the afternoon,” Besch said. “I wish I had C lunch because I like to eat late.”

Students also complain about the length of the lunches, which are 30 minutes not including the time it takes to walk to the cafeteria.

“I would rather have a longer lunch,” freshman Izzy Schaar said. “(A lot) of people end up not finishing their food. We tend to get distracted.”

While three lunches accommodate more students and diverse schedules, “I hate having three lunches,” sophomore Ava Weissgarber said. “You have less of a chance with having lunch with your friends, the lunches are shorter, and B lunch is way too crowded.