Leys, Nunes, Palmer 1

Jane Leys, Olivia Nunes, Caeli Palmer

Mrs. Rosa

URI WRT 104

8 December 2017

A Plan For A Functioning High School Schedule

Overview:

Rogers High School is an all around wonderful school but has a few issues such as its

current schedule. Flashback to 2014, the start of our freshman year. On Mondays and Fridays all

seven classes took place and, Tuesday through Thursday there was a rotating block schedule

with only five classes each day. Advisory took place every Thursday morning and was used as a

time to catch up on work, meet with teachers, work on college applications and scholarships.

Senior Year, everything changed. A new schedule was proposed by the ex-vice principal and put

into effect by the superintendent and school committee of Newport Public Schools. It is a
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Monday, Friday schedule everyday with no advisory. The opinions of teachers, staff and students

were not considered in the matter, as most of them were against this new schedule.

Problem:

If the administration and school committee had taken a closer look into this Monday,

Friday schedule they would have realized that the issues go far beyond having the same classes

everyday. Since the schedule is the same everyday all the classes are short, whereas with a block

schedule classes would be longer and would thus provide more time to complete longer

activities. Shortened classes give students less time with each instructor and less learning time in

each class. With this students, who may not completely understand a certain topic will not be

able to get the attention they need to master the skill.

Rogers High School has a lot to offer; numerous AP courses and the choice of virtual

high school. This type of schedule is especially hard for students in AP classes and lab sciences

because the lessons rarely get finished in one period. It is difficult on both the students and the

teachers to have to cut a lesson short and pick it back up the next day. During short classes, tests
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are often stretched across two, even three days. It is hard for teachers teaching AP classes to

properly prepare students for their exams because there is not enough time in a class period to

take one section of an AP practice exam. These sections are around 60 minutes long so in order

to complete a full section students would have miss some of another class. With the current

schedule whether AP teachers choose not to have practice exams for their students or, have them

miss other classes they are handicapping the students’ education.

Another issue with the traditional seven period a day schedule is that advisory was not

built into this schedule. Advisory plays a huge role in the education of students. Advisory was a

vital time for kids to complete makeup work and missed tests. Without advisory, all assemblies

and required standardized tests take place during precious class time. According to the Board of

Regents for elementary and secondary education in Rhode Island, advisory is a state mandate so

every student should be given the “environment in which a responsible educator, in addition to a

school counselor, meets regularly with and is knowledgeable about the social/emotional,

academic, and career goals of each student”. Rogers High School is breaking the law by not

providing their students with an advisory period.

A rotating block schedule is much more effective than a traditional seven period a day

schedule. Block schedules allow students more than one night to complete work because they do

not have every class every day. And it also “...offers students more instructional time and

prepares students for college where the schedule will vary day by day.” Not only does the

traditional schedule affect core classes, it also affects electives. According to a RHS Guidance

Counselor Mrs. Moitoza, in music class, by the time all the instruments are tuned and ready to be

played, it is time to clean up. Complaints from Art Teacher Mrs. Lowe, show that in in art class
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students no longer have the opportunity to use the wheel. In gym class, students do not have

enough time to complete a warm up and be prepared for the day's activities.

Solution:

The easiest solution to this issue would be to go back to our old schedule which was a

rotating block schedule, including advisory once a week. This provided students with the

opportunity to get extra work done throughout the day and to see a teacher if they needed extra

help on an assignment or a lesson they did not understand. By seeing your classes every day on

Monday and Friday you can clarify any problems you had before the weekend or from weekend

work. This would be very beneficial for students who took advantage to get ahead of work on the

weekend. The main purpose of the rotating block schedule was to get more work done in one

day. Also, with the emphasis on taking AP courses this was a huge advantage when taking

practice tests to prepare for the exam. Science labs would run on these days to give enough time

to complete the lab. Art and music classes had enough time to enhance their pieces making it the

best they can. The rotating schedule also brings some variety into the lives of these teenagers.

Going through the same schedule every single day can make school seem dull. With our

society not understanding the value of education there is no room for making students less

engaged. Education is the most important tool in shaping young adults for their future so they

should be given the best opportunity to excel.

Works Cited
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“About the Exams.” About the AP Exams - Taking the AP Exam,

apstudent.collegeboard.org/takingtheexam/about-exams.

Ascd. “Chapter 2. Managing Instructional Time.” Managing Instructional Time.

Chella, Hope. Personal Interview. 5 Dec. 2017.

Fitzgerald, Eileen. “Rotating Class Times Aid Middle School Students.” NewsTimes, 25 Sept.

2005.

Moitoza, Linda. Personal interview. 5 Dec. 2017.

Natasha. “What Is High School Block Scheduling? Block vs Traditional Schedules.”Owlcation,

Owlcation, 9 June 2016.

Pope, Nolan G. “How the Time of Day Affects Productivity: Evidence from School Schedule.”

Mar. 2016.

State of Rhode Island, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Council on

Elementary and Secondary Education Secondary School Regulations. 2015. Web.

Stoneman, Nick. “Want High Schoolers to Succeed? Stop Giving Them Fifth-Grade Schedules.”

The Hechinger Report, 30 Sept. 2015.