Next year's schedule undergoes major changes 

Norwood High School has come up with different schedule plans in order to give students the space that they need along with the right amount of education to still succeed. 

The NHS schedule committee has been meeting since March of 2020 to build and create a schedule that is best for students in school and online. The last meeting just concluded last week. 

There were four major phases of the schedule study timeline to see what was working, what wasn't working, and eventually figure out what would be approved. Phase I consisted of testing new ideas, phase II was research on other schools to help with NHS’s own needs, phase III consisted of creating different drafts to plan out a schedule, and phase IV was the hope to implement the schedule that has been created. School improvement plans, student voice, and focus groups were the main reasons that inspired and helped carry through this schedule.

On March 10, 2021, the school committee presented this new plan for the next school year and it was approved. The new schedule consists of a Monday to Friday time frame, instead of the old rotating schedule, and a more flexible time for students.

NHS Schedule Committee member and teacher Ms. Rodger explained the goal of the new schedule.

“The overarching concept that we looked at was ultimately looking at the fact that the schedule is going to refer to everything: number classes, requirements, length, duration, structure, offering opportunities for everything that encompasses the schedule and how academics are structured at the high school,” she said. 

Student voice and opinion were an important factor in formatting the schedule. The committee members launched votes to students to receive accurate representation. As a teacher at NHS, Ms. Rodger does recognize the difficulty to learn in these conditions and wants to create a safe and productive learning environment.

"One of the major reasons was to create personalized learning opportunities and programs for all students… and make sure that the schedule format will allow the school to better serve our students and meet our school Improvement plan goals,” she said. 

Guidance counselor, Ms. McDonnell hopes for a return to normalcy by next year with the implementation of the new schedule. The scheduling committee has been working on the schedule for over a year now and has evolved from the pandemic schedule. 

“If there's anything positive that could come out of the pandemic I think it's going to be the schedule that has been approved for next year and that we are going to do away with that seven-day cycle...It's a 5-day cycle the part of it that students did like which is the rotating schedule of periods with different classes every morning, but more similar to real life,” she said. 

As a guidance counselor, Ms. McDonnell did have to speak with students to plan out personalized schedules for next year with the hope that school would be normal. There is a bigger range of electives next year along with more study periods where students can take the time to do internships or meet with their teacher. 

Junior Tanya Kolli is looking forward to her senior year being as close to normal as possible with the hope that the pandemic will soon be over with vaccinations. To her, the safety of students and staff is very important. 

“I'll feel safer going back to school with the vaccine distribution at the rate it's going now. We'll probably have a lot more people vaccinated including teachers and other staff,” she said.  

Due to the pandemic, this year was far from normal for all students- but it did have many benefits. The scheduling for remote learning and in-school learning was altered to satisfy student needs. As an all remote student, Tanya feels that her schedule gives a lot of flexibility.

“The way my schedule is it gives me a lot of flexibility with free time to do my school work and lunch and everything. For next year there the school would be giving more space for minor classes, opening more class options and flexibility which I like," Kolli said.

With the use of masks, 6ft distance, and other restrictions that have been put in place to keep people safe, the Covid- 19 pandemic has affected school systems all across the world. Despite this setback, many have adjusted to make sure students are safe but still engaging in school work. Students and staff are very happy with the outcome of the new schedule and hope for a fantastic 2021-22 school year.