Slow cooker tips when on high and others remove the lid
Five hours is still a pretty long time for low and slow. Many recipes will work within that time without modification.

For ones that won't, the best way to cut time off is to heat things through in a pot on the stove first. Slow cookers are pretty good at the low and slow part, but that means they're really slow at getting to the point where they're actually cooking. Depending on your recipe, you may be able to skip right past a couple hours of initial heating by bringing things to a simmer/boil before dumping in.

Also, don't worry too much about the lid getting taken off. If it's left off, yeah, that's not great, but if it's just opened to stir and it's full of food/liquid, the temperature is not going to decrease that much.



If after all that, it's still not enough, I'd look to suggestions like those in Kate's answer - sidestep your timing constraints by prepping the night before and finding a better place for the slow cooker so you can start it earlier and avoid the lid getting opened. If you can get a small fridge outside the kitchen, you really could do it all without ever going into the kitchen in the morning.