Norris School District

Modified Block Schedule:

            The high school has adopted a new schedule for next year.  The schedule was proposed by a schedule development committee that met over the course of the year and researched different bell schedule options, building on data obtained through student, staff, and parent surveys.

The schedule was presented to all students in meetings on February 10^th.  The schedule was presented to the school board at board meetings in February and March. 

The schedule is a modified block, consistent with consensus opinion from faculty, students, and parents that some form of a block was preferable over shorter periods.  Most of the periods in the schedule are approximately 90 minutes in length and meet every other day.  Two periods (first and fourth) meet daily and are shorter in length (45-50 minutes).  The first period will accommodate the request of instrumental music to have a daily contact for marching band.  Thus, the schedule is an alternating block schedule that is modified to include a daily first period and a daily Intensive Academic Prep teacher access period that will take the place of other study halls and student assistantships that formerly met throughout the day.  Some students will take independent studies and others may take specialized classes during this IAP time. 

The IAP daily fourth period: Intensive Academic Prep:  By running the access period at a common time for all students, the academic benefit is much greater than with a traditional study hall that might meet on any given period, since all teachers will have this IAP assignment in common.  This inverts the old study hall environment and makes for a much smaller and more academically oriented class rather than having a study hall in the Multi Purpose Room (as now) with 50 or more students.  It also creates the possibility for students who have missed due to absences or activities the chance to get individual assistance from their teachers during that time.  This is a major benefit to our students since about ¾ take a study hall now and over ¾ of our kids are in one or more co-curricular or extra-curricular activities.  Students involved in activities have had a notoriously difficult time in obtaining individual assistance from teachers – not because teachers are not willing to provide that help, but because the students have before and after-school commitments that mean they cannot see the teacher during these times.  With the IAP time provided, they will be able to access other teachers to receive assistance, additional instruction, and complete make-up work in a timely manner.

There is no separately scheduled ‘homeroom’ or ‘mentoring’ time in the new schedule.  Any mentoring activities that must occur will be held during IAP time.  Mentoring is neither the purpose of nor the driving force behind the IAP time.

            One of the outstanding features of the new schedule is that the high school and middle school established a cooperative partnership in creating it, which will be uniform for both levels.  This consistency will benefit students in having a common bell schedule, rendering the crucial middle-to-high school transition more seamless.  The shared schedule also permits a greater degree of flexibility and utility in the use of faculty members who teach at both levels. 

            Holding the pre-registration conferences in January allowed the school to analyze different types of schedules and determine what schedules were most feasible and workable given course requests and shared staff with the middle school.  The adopted schedule best meets the diverse needs of our students, allowing teachers to deliver instruction in a format more conducive to extended learning opportunities.  Students report they are better able to understand and retain knowledge in the block format. 

            Further information on the schedule can be obtained by visiting Mr. Skretta’s other pages on the Norris website.