Most of us here at Harrison High School are used to having seven bells every day, with each lasting 35 to 40 minutes long, Monday through Friday with advisory on Thursday. However, there’s a possibility that this routine could change completely.
But why should we even consider changing our current schedule? According to Bonneville Academy’s “What Are The Types Of School Bell Schedules?” A school’s schedule can greatly impact its student’s productivity, well-being, and learning ability. Robert Clark, a STEAM teacher and member of the High School Redesign Committee at Harrison High School, is all for these changes. He stated, “The bell schedule is outdated, and it doesn’t mimic the real world.” Furthermore, in the Google form we sent out to students, we asked them to rate our current schedule on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 meaning they absolutely hate it and 5 meaning they love it. A majority gave the current schedule a score of two or three, meaning that they think there is a lot of room for improvement in our current schedule.
What are some of the ways the schedule could change? There are several options, including a modified block schedule, a college schedule, and a school within a school model.
In a modified block schedule, students would have three days a week where they have a normal 7 bell schedule like the current schedule. The other two days would be block days, with each day having four 90 minute bells a day. This would allow each teacher to have one longer class per week, which would be great for science labs, practice test, and all sorts of activities that are hard to do in 49 minutes. The ratings from students were mostly neutral, with 1 through 4 each having a percent of 20-25% and 5 having the lowest with 10%.
A college schedule is what you think it is; a schedule that colleges commonly use. In this schedule, there are different modules for different classes with breaks in between. Classes would follow a time schedule, so there would be no bells or lunch bells, meaning you can eat whenever you want between classes. In the student form, 50% of students gave the college schedule a 5. This schedule offers the most flexibility, but would be hard to implement with the school’s responsibility to know where everyone is all the time.
A “School within a school” schedule is where only a certain number of students apply and are accepted. Students in this program would meet in the designated location for the “school” to take their core classes. For each core class, they would only meet with their teacher face-to-face twice a week. On the other three days, students would have assignments, group work, or projects they can work on for those classes. This also gives students a chance to work at their own pace and in a more social setting. The rest of the students not using this schedule will use the normal schedule. 58% of the scores were a 2 or 3.
While our current schedule is working fine, both students and staff alike think it is time for a change to happen. With several options being considered, nothing in our schedule will change this school year. Maybe in a couple of years, though, we will have something different and flexible!
