High School Scheduling

High school, the place that every teenager looks forward to and dreads going at the same time. There’s always drama you can’t avoid, although you soon make friends to keep you from going insane. But there is one thing your friends can’t save you from. The entire reason for school: Classes! If you desire to graduate, you have to take them, especially the mandatory ones. You need four math classes, three science, two foreign languages, four social studies, and four English courses. Also a total of twenty-two credits are required. But I wouldn’t stress out too much; you have four years to get it done. That’s just about six classes a year.


While growing up high school has always been the same here in Jones County. A typical school day would start for a few students who chose to start their day by attending a first period, which begins at 7:45am. The bell rings fifty minutes later at 8:35am, which ends all first period classes and begins the busy day for the remainder of the students and teachers. Everyone pushes their way through the halls in order to make it to second period by 8:41am. This class also last fifty minutes just the same as every other class except for fourth and sixth period. Fourth period is a short fifteen-minute class called advisement. It could be considered ‘freebie’ time. Sixth period is grub time. Jones County High School operates with two lunches. Some students will go to lunch first and then their sixth period, while the other half of students will report to their sixth period class first followed by lunch. Sixth period is also twelve extremely long minutes extra than a normal length class, in order for everyone to watch channel one news. Aside from the two different class times every other class is fifty minutes long. Also there is always six minutes in between every class, second through eighth. Once the bell rings at 3:15pm, eighth period is over and the academic part of the day is over.

Going through a schedule like this can be overwhelming. Students have at least six classes to worry about everyday. The most frustrating dilemma is that homework can accumulate so fast and before you realize you become swamped with a list of assignments. But there is a bright side to the many courses. With the more classes you take, the more people you come in contact with and befriend. Also that precious free time in between each class allows students to collect and prepare themselves for the next class. When it comes to sixth period there are definite ups and downs. The obvious benefit is it’s lunchtime, which is everyone’s favorite part of the day. Lunch is the only time meant for eating, relaxing, and socializing with friends without any disturbances from teachers or schoolwork. Of course with lunch there is always a sixth period class that work has to be done. This can be the most dreadful part of the day because of the extra amount of time in class. Overall the events of the day keep you moving at a fast pace all of the time.

Now days a change has come to the little town of Jones County. High school courses are being taught through blocked schedules on certain days of the week. Blocked scheduling allows students to attend just three courses per day and spend an hour and a half in each class. Wednesdays and Thursdays are the days with fewer classes but extended time. Although first period classes never times. They still begin at 7:45am and end at 8:35am. On Wednesdays students go to their even period classes: second, sixth, and eighth. Second period still begins at 8:41am, but its new ending time is at 10:12. In between second and sixth period there is now a ten-minute break (this gives students time to walk around after sitting down for so long). At 10:22am sixth period starts and finishes at 11:52am. After this class period first lunch begins. If students do not have first lunch then they report to their fourth period for a forty-five minute advisement, which is still considered ‘freebie’ time. After first lunch and advisement is over, the students who were at lunch go to their advisement and the other students who went to advisement attend second lunch. Second lunch ends at 1:37pm. Once the bell rings at 1:37pm, students have eight minutes to get to class, which begins at 1:45pm. Eighth period is the last class of the day. It’s finished at 3:15pm, and then the school day is over. On Thursdays the time schedule is the same though the classes are different. Third period comes first, then fifth period. After that students still go to lunch or their advisement (fourth period). Then the students who went to lunch go to fourth and vice versa, just the same as on Wednesdays. Following second lunch, seventh period begins. This ends the school day and all of blocked scheduling for that week.

Switching to block scheduling was meant to ease the load of work given to students on a daily basis. Attending fewer classes a day allows teenagers not to have to constantly keep their minds racing about multiple assignments and lessons given by different teachers. But a major possible problem with this class scheduling is how long students are kept in the same exact classroom. The truth is only a handful of teenagers can sit in one class for an hour and a half without becoming distracted or losing interest. This causes the teachers to have to spice up their lesson plans to keep their students paying attention. That might call for more hands on learning activities, such as projects or experiments. Ultimately the better lesson plans could improve the students participation and grades, which is a very rewarding aspect of the program. Also lunch period is a plus. Instead of having to stay in one of your boring classes for twelve extra minutes, advisement (your ‘freebie’ period) is whom you go to lunch with. So now with extended advisement time, homework can be completed, socializing with others can be done, or just having some relaxation time is possible. With blocked scheduling there are fewer circumstances to be stressed about.

There is always change that happens over time. Even when it comes to how school are teaching classes. The block schedule came as a shock to the faculty and students of Jones County High School. Complaints may have been made; we cannot criticize anything unless you’ve tried it. The only way to know if an idea works is for the idea to be tested. We know the flaws in six classes a day: too much work and not enough time. Now as we use the block schedule, the time problem is eliminated and less work has to be done outside of school. So far the good that blocked scheduling produces out ways the bad. But the change will take time to adjust to.