Flex Block activities at the high school began yesterday, and this year, they are required.
“What’s different from last year to this year is we have the expectation this year that all students are participating in something Flex Block-related from 2-3 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There are still Flex Blocks that may run until 4, but students would know that going into it,” Principal Eric Juli said. If students would like to go to conferences from 3 to 4 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, they may, Juli said.
According to an email sent to teachers Sept. 7, “All teachers are required to hold a Flex Block offering from 2-3 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday. 2-3 p.m. is included in students’ instructional time we report to the state.”
“We are taking attendance in Flex Block, and it will be in PowerSchool,” Juli said.
Because attendance was not recorded last year, significant numbers of students left school after sixth period. “We always wanted attendance to be taken, and we purchased some new software to allow that to happen this year,” Juli said, adding that the software is an extension of PowerSchool. “I see Flex Block as part of school, and it’s a different part of school, but it’s still a part of school, and now that we have the means to take attendance in a more formal way, we will do so.”
During the 2022-23 school year, the high school shifted to a seven-period day, allowing Flex Block to occur in place of an eighth period. In a 2022 back-to-school email, Principal Eric Juli wrote, “Flex Block is an opportunity for students to have internships, begin work-study jobs, engage in community service and community projects to positively impact Shaker Heights.”
Juli said that Flex Block activities are intended to feel different than a class. “I think teachers are really being incredibly thoughtful about the activities that they think that students would be interested in doing,” he said. “There isn’t homework or tests associated with Flex Block, and this is another way for students to find things that they are interested in doing or that they don’t even know they’re interested in doing.”
