With the arrival of the new school year came the departure of the handwritten hall-pass, as The Hub docked at Minnetonka High School. From the ability to request hall-passes, to signing up for flex spaces and other appointments, The Hub has proved to be a very versatile program, but many students (including myself) have been confused as to the origin and reasoning behind the seemingly sudden establishment of The Hub this year. 

          So what is The Hub, and where did it come from? The Hub is an online system that various schools have used to implement quicker and easier hall pass systems, as well as two-way communication between teachers and students. Assistant Principal, Mr. Best says that “[the school administration] wanted to know how we could do MAST differently.” He voiced his prioritization of having good communication between students and teachers, and felt that the old system wasn’t completely achieving that. He also added that the admin considered using the Vacava system that was used to manage MAST assignments in the past, but decided on The Hub after the admin visited other schools and saw that they “used The Hub to manage student movement.” 

          Along with replacing MAST all together with the new Anchor Time program, Mr. Best stated that having student-teacher connections was a crucial part in deciding to make the switch from the old-school pen and paper to The Hub. Students are able to view their Anchor Time session requests from teachers, and also view teacher availability. In addition to the ease and practicality of The Hub, Mr. Best stated that “attendance has improved since last year.” As does the initiation of any new program, many students have provided the school with their feedback. Student leadership groups such as The Principal’s Advisory Council also connect with admin with comments and concerns. The school also plans to use The Hub to enhance the testing center process in the future.