A committee of teachers is helping to plan the bell schedule for 2024-25 school year.
The committee comprises teachers from each department, one being the department chairperson, meeting first in mid-November.
Individuals and Societies teacher Joey Pompignano, a member of the committee, said that the group is discussing how to meet the needs and desires of students in the time available.
“I came in with the mindset that it’s really important to have a Flex Block, maybe not twice a week, but at least once a week,” he said. Pompignano is an adviser for Sankofa Flex Block on Tuesdays and Thursdays and doesn’t want schedule changes to hinder student attendance.
Pompignano also said that teachers have discussed reducing mandatory Crew meetings from twice to once a week.
On Dec. 7 during Crew, students took a survey created by the scheduling committee. It asked questions such as, “How often do you attend conferences?” “How often would you like to have Crew?” and “How many hours do you spend on homework each night?”
The goal of the survey was to assess student opinions on the schedule and interest in classes.
Additionally, the survey asked students whether there was a class they wanted to enroll in, but couldn’t fit in their schedule this school year and what class they would take if the schedule included an additional period.
The 2020-21 school year was fully remote until January 2021, when students could choose to go to school in person two days a week. Shortly after, students choosing to go in-person attended four days, with Mondays remaining online.
The 2021-2022 school year was fully in-person, with eight periods, split evenly in a block schedule with A and B days, four periods each day.
For the 2022-23 school year, there were three different schedules per week, as well as three unique ending times and lunch periods. The schedule comprised seven class periods – four periods on odd days (Wednesdays and Fridays) and three periods on even days (Tuesdays and Thursdays). All class periods met on Mondays.
On even days, with only three class periods, and a 30-minute crew period, the high school uses the extra time at the end of day for Flex Block during which students participate in extracurricular activities.
This year, Flex Block became mandatory. There were no other changes to the schedule for the 2023-24 school year.
Junior Kellon Young dislikes Flex Block. He said, “To be honest, I think Flex Block should be an actual period or a study hall so I can actually do work instead of doing something that doesn’t really matter.”
Tackling the Bell Schedule, Again
Teacher committee considers ways to organize time next school year
Schedule committee members Emily Shrestha, Erin Mauch and Nalin Needham, all of whom are English teachers, meet in the English Department office Dec. 7.
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