New School Year, New Schedule: How the New Schedule has Impacted Masterman

Last year, one of the most common asked questions by Masterman students was, “Can you please round my grade up?” This has now been replaced by, “What day is it?” Change is hard, and the shift from a five day schedule to A days and B days has been difficult for the Masterman community. Historically, Masterman has operated on a five day schedule, meaning that students and teachers have different schedules for each day of the week. Now, with the A/B scheduling, students have a different schedule every other day, and the pattern continues week to week. So, depending on the week, a Monday could be an A day or a B day. While this system ensures that one day’s roster of classes is not missed more than others, it can create confusion for teachers and students who are not yet familiar with the process. 

There are other aspects of the schedule that have an even bigger impact on the quality of student experience. Seventh graders eat lunch at 9:12 in the morning. On the other end of the spectrum, high school students eat at 12:55. Both students and parents have raised concerns over this issue. Seventh grade  teachers have allowed students to have a snack in class, but this can be disruptive. For high schoolers, many of whom wake up incredibly early in order to travel to school for extracurricular activities, this late lunch makes it hard to focus in class. “I have to eat lunch in AP Government everyday, which momentarily distracts me, but I would not be able to function in my other classes otherwise,” says Francis Jurlando (12-2). 

The timing of lunch creates an additional hardship for student athletes who typically leave the building on game days at 1:00. This means that students cannot run or participate in clubs on days they have games, which makes it difficult for underclassmen who play sports to become familiar with the many clubs that Masterman has to offer. 

Since the schedule was announced there have actually been some changes. Following a protest of over 300 students and parents this past May over the loss of middle school specials like music, art and gym, the schedule changed slightly in order to address these concerns. Similarly, after high schoolers raised concerns about limitations in the afternoon, advisory was moved to the end of the day which means that student-athletes miss less instructional time. While this did push seventh grade lunch earlier in the day, high schoolers and seventh graders were in agreement that they preferred advisory at the end of the day, according to a survey conducted by the Student Government Association (SGA). On the one hand, the current schedule has created more time for core classes in the middle school but on the other hand, the seven period day is a notable disruption for the high school. It limits the ability of students to work or participate in internships and overall makes the day feel longer for students. 

Previously, Masterman High School operated on an eight period schedule, something that teachers and students both appreciated. Additionally, in the years before COVID, high school students had the opportunity to take extra “enrichment” classes at lunch. “There were students teaching classes, and Penn professors teaching classes, and it was just a grand experience,” says Mr. Neale, former Masterman English teacher and current Masterman parent. Students who took these additional classes or who participated in sports were allowed to leave the building at 2:30, rather than 3:19. These enrichment classes also provided students with the opportunity to study new subjects that were not offered by Masterman’s curriculum. Students who did not participate in enrichments or play a sport were required to stay for an eighth period study hall called options. Many students and teachers are advocating to revive this program. In order to do this, the program would need to be looked at from a legal perspective, as there were issues with the amount of time that students were in school under the previous system and those issues would need to be addressed. The school would also need to assign a staff member to take on the workload of running enrichment. Still, students and teachers alike strongly believe that enrichments are something that administration should consider for next school year and beyond. 

At the end of the day, the schedule is set for this year. While this is disappointing to many students who feel restricted by this schedule, “We just have to do the best we can for this year,” says Mr. Gilken, Director of Climate and Culture, “What we now need to do is come together as students, teachers, administrators, and parents and build a schedule for the next year that reflects everyone’s concerns.” This process has already begun through the work of the ad hoc schedule committee that is composed of students, teachers, and parents. 

It is imperative to not forget that one of the biggest hardships for students and teachers is that they feel that decisions are handed down without creating room for student or teacher input. SGA was informed of the schedule changes late last winter, but they were not asked for their input. When SGA brought up glaring issues with the schedule such as the conflict between clubs and sports, SGA representatives were told that it was too late in the process to make such significant changes. “That’s the kind of thing that, if students had been involved in the decision making process a year ago, would have been avoided.” says Candelaria Beatty, SGA President. “One of the biggest recurring issues is the complete lack of holistic buy-in. One thing that I see from talking to teachers is a lot of confusion over why changes happen. I think the community could have embraced the changes but there wasn’t any clear explanation for them,” says Mr. Neale. According to multiple sources, teachers were not consulted at all on the plans for the schedule change. Once the realities of what the schedule change would mean, students began to mobilize, attending community meetings hosted by administration in collaboration with SGA and speaking at school board meetings. “I think there has been a lot of hurt feelings from a lot of parties, and those are valid…We have learned some hard lessons about that and are working toward doing that more effectively.” says Mr. Gilken. The biggest hurdle on the road to progress is clearly better communication between the different parties involved with the Masterman community. This includes students, teachers, parents, and administration. 

Overall, this schedule change has led to discussion about the different values at play at Masterman as well as balancing student, teacher, and administrative concerns. . It has also led to questions about what Masterman’s “thing” is. However, to people who are familiar with the community, the answer is clear. “Masterman is the school for gifted kids. Masterman is a great place for kids who work hard and share that drive with others.” says Mr. Neale. “It’s academics, that's our thing,” echos Mr. Gilken. However, the past few months have illuminated the idea that Masterman students have another “thing.” Masterman students have an innate desire to stand up for themselves and for each other. It is incredibly important for the this idea to continue to be cultivated. Even as Masterman evolves, this idea cannot be forgotten.