Since September, students have had plenty of time to become acquainted with teachers, courses, and most importantly the block schedule. After one semester of this major transition, both teachers and students reflect on their experience with the schedule so far.

“I like that it’s a good move for students. The students seem to be doing well and [are] really enjoying the schedule and are getting a lot out of their classes,” guidance counselor Mrs. Lynne Kelly said. “I also really like having the Spartan Period to take care of things and explore.”

Under the block scheduling, students have had four 77-minute classes, as well as a 42-minute “Spartan Period” for enrichment, remediation, and learning.  Classes are split between two days, with four on each day.

“I like that the periods are longer, so we have more of an opportunity to do more activities during the time that the class meets,” biology teacher Mrs. Adrienne Searfoss said.

Students especially enjoy having more time for homework completion and additional opportunities to ask questions about specific assignments. They also like Spartan Period, as it is a time for them to get extra help and to explore other classes and activities that they are interested in.

“I like that we have more time in each class the days that we have them,” freshman Sarah Mackin said. “I like having the time to finish tests and projects and things that we work on and not being rushed.”

However, there are also some aspects of block scheduling that students and teachers don’t like.

“The thing I hate most is you have a whole day to forget about your previous class, and then you get dragged back into the class. You don’t get a chance to continuously get the same information,” sophomore Naomi Li said. “It’s very difficult for a lot of students to switch between two different schools, basically.”

Other students believe that the long length of the classes only creates problems. They also think that it is unfair because students can ask each other about questions on a test or a pop quiz for their class the following day.

“Some classes have advantages over other classes because they can get that one [extra] class in [before a test],” sophomore Lucy Zhang said. “It’s unfair. Those students have more time to study.”

Despite the ups and downs, most students and staff members believe that the block scheduling should be continued next year.

“For the most part, in all my conversations with kids I think I had one student who said they didn’t like it,” Mrs. Kelly said.  “Everyone else really, really liked it.”