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Post date: Dec 5, 2014 4:54:19 PM
ON 1/8/2015 THIS BELL SCHEDULE WAS DISCARDED
IN FAVOR OF A 6-7 FLEX SCHEDULE
The Scheduling/Curriculum Transition Team met on 12/2/2014 and adopted a revised tentative daily bell schedule for 2015-2016. The new tentative schedule supports the decisions reached at the Team's 10/29/2014 meeting to have separate closed lunch periods for freshmen and sophomores, retain an open lunch for juniors and seniors, and provide tutorial/mentoring time for freshmen.
Click here for a PDF copy of the schedule or use the attachment link at the bottom of this post.
You can also click the image below to enlarge it.
Schedule features by grade level
The added requirements created quite a scheduling challenge. The latest schedule has numerous features:
Freshmen: 7-period day with 5-minute passing periods, a separate closed lunch, and a 20-minute advisory period at the start of the 4th period class for student mentoring in that and other classes and help acclimating to high school
Sophomores: 6-period day with 6-minute passing periods, a separate closed lunch, and a 25-minute advisory period at the start of the 4th period class for student mentoring in that and other classes; that advisory matches up with the tutorial period for juniors and seniors for students in classes serving grades 10-12
Juniors and Seniors: 6-period day with 6-minute passing periods, an open lunch coupled with a 25-minute tutorial period similar to what is used now but 5 minutes longer and shifted to follow 3rd period instead of 4th period; unused tutorial time provides an extended lunch
Crossovers
A particular challenge in the schedule is allowing crossovers between the 7-period day and 6-period day classes, which is important for band, orchestra, choir, athletics, and some elective and core classes. The adopted tentative schedule provides four full crossover periods where students can take a classes conducted on either the 7-period or 6-period schedule, with a fifth period allowing partial crossover where students in grades 10-12 could cross over to a class on the 7-period schedule, but freshmen could not cross over the other way.
Fourth period advisories and tutorials:
Each subject area is assigned two days in each week as its tutorial/advisory days, while Fridays are reserved for club meetings during the tutorial/advisory period.
For freshman and sophomore students and teachers, the advisory is mandatory for students. On the appropriate subject days the students will be required to attend advisories in subjects they are failing or in which they have make-up work or are assigned to attend by the teacher, and can also voluntary attend different advisories for extra help as needed. There will be a pass system to track students shifting among advisories. Students not needing to attend a different advisory remain in their 4th period class during that time. When the advisory period is over all students should be back in their 4th period class.
For junior and senior students and teachers, tutorials match up with the 10th grade advisory times and days. Students must attend a tutorial in a subject they are failing or in which they have make-up work or are assigned to attend by the teacher, and can also voluntary attend tutorials for extra help as needed. Teachers conducting tutorials must be careful to dismiss on time any sophomores who crossover for help so that they return to their 4th period class on time. (Freshman are unlikely to crossover for 10-12 advisories or tutorials, but if they do, they have to be released early to get to their 4th period class on time.)
Concerns for Students Attending Tri-County Technology Center (TCTC) Classes
The shift in the timing of the tutorial period might allow more juniors and seniors to take a morning class at TCTC. However, under the existing TCTC morning schedule they would not be able to attend tutorials at BHS, which is a significant drawback.
Currently students can leave for afternoon classes at TCTC at 12:11, or can ride a late bus provided by tech which leaves around 12:45 since tutorials end at 12:41 p.m. The tentative schedule would have 4th period ending at 12:44, so all afternoon TCTC students would ride the late bus to tech or drive themselves. That would likely require that the afternoon TCTC sessions shift a bit later in the day. If that cannot be worked out with TCTC, then the 4th period for grades 11-12 would likely return to being 54 minutes instead of 59 minutes, creating an 11-minute passing period between 4th and 5th periods for those grade levels.
If you have concerns about the tentative day schedule which are not address in this post, please visit with members of the Scheduling/Curriculum Transition Team:
Teacher equity issues
The schedule includes various features to address issues of teacher equity in terms of duty-free lunch time, extended lunch time versus mandatory advisories, etc.
Duty-Free Lunch
The schedule ensures a 30-minute duty-free lunch for teachers in grades 9, 11, and 12. Teachers in grade 10 actually get a 35-minute duty-free lunch, which helps compensate for the 85-minute duration of their 4th period with advisory, giving them some time for a bathroom break as part of lunch. (The freshman 4th period with advisory is shorter at 65 minutes total.)
Lunchtime Duty for Grades 11-12
Freshman and sophomore teachers must conduct a mandatory advisory each day with their 4th period students. Junior and senior teachers only have a mandatory tutorial two days per week, so one or more of their non-tutorial days will include lunchtime duty. Two different lunchtime duty periods are included to cover the tutorial period and lunch period so that teachers still get a 30-minute duty-free lunch on lunchtime duty days.
The Team recognized that some teachers, particularly in subjects like math, tend to voluntarily conduct tutorials for students wanting extra help on off-subject days when they are not required to attend other tutorials. That could still be accommodated by having teachers who want to do extra tutorials assigned to duty before or after school in lieu of lunchtime duty.
Other Known Concerns
No schedule is perfect, particularly one trying to serve so many diverse needs as this one with its 6 and 7-period crossovers, separate lunches, and advisories and tutorials.
Limited Crossover of Freshman Advisory with 10-12 Advisory/Tutorial
The best we could do in aligning the 9th grade advisory with the 10-12 advisory/tutorial periods while creating four full crossover periods among the 6-and-7-period day schedule was a 15-minute overlap. With passing periods that could drop as low as 5 minutes, so the freshman advisory period in many cases will be limited to Freshman Academy use.
Varying Class Lengths in Freshman Academy
To allow students to crossover between 6-period day and 7-period day classes, the Freshman Academy classes varying length from 45 to 55 minutes (with a 45-minute 4th period class preceded by a 20-minute tutorial in that room for a 65-minute combined period). The longer 55 minute classes are periods 1, 2, and 7. Classes typically run a bit slower in the first class of the day and then speed up as the teacher gains experience with how the lesson plan is working, so the longer 1st period should not be too problematic. Announcements are scheduled for the longer 2nd period, which will help balance it out. The final period of the day is a longer period, and the extra time can be used to prepare the classroom for cleaning and for the next day's activities.
Varying Class Lengths in Grades 10-12
Classes in grades 10-12 vary from 54 minutes up to 60 minutes. This minimal difference should not be problematic. 4th period classes in grade 10 are 60 minutes coupled to a 25-minute advisory period. The extra six minutes of class time should help compensate for the logistics of students coming back from other advisories or tutorials. 4th period classes in grades 11-12 are 59 minutes, which should help compensate for tardies from the open campus lunches.
Scheduling 4th Period
To make the sophomore lunch a closed one, it is imperative that all sophomores have a 4th period advisory in which attendance is taken (and that movements to other advisories or tutorials are accounted for). To keep the number of students in each 9th and 10th grade advisory period as small as possible and have enough grade-10-only classes to hold the sophomores, 4th period would likely be "all hands on deck" with every available 9th and 10th grade teacher conducting a class. Crossovers between grades 9-12 will not occur in 4th period, nor will classes with a mix of 10-12 students be feasible. Dr. Layman and Ms. Chancellor are running some preliminary checks on the scheduling of sophomores for advisory periods.
Bruin Academy
Bruin Academy classes will be on the middle level of Custer Stadium with an 8-period day. Their lunch, coinciding with lunch for students in the Back on Track or PASS programs, would follow their 6th period. Bruin Academy students would have 3-minute passing periods except that a longer time between two morning periods would allow students to visit the Claw Mart for snacks to help break up their day and keep their energy levels higher. This schedule is not tightly linked to the rest of the schedule except for the timing of the lunch period, so it can be amended to best suit the alternative education program.
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