Schedule Change (Again)

New Schedule for 2024-2025 School Year:

By: Hailey Campbell, Staff Writer

April 24th, 2024

Big changes are on the horizon AGAIN at School Lane, are you ready? First this year we got a new schedule, Managebac, and new phone policies. Next year we are getting yet ANOTHER new schedule. There has been a lot of talk with concerns about this new schedule. Mrs. Weber went around to multiple advisories to discuss the new changes and get feedback. When interviewed, she said “You guys must have so many questions. Like we had just the A and B day schedule for so many years. Now we are having changes left and right. I might be able to answer some of your questions.”

I had the opportunity to sit down with the principal Mrs Weber and discuss with her the thought process and different things about this upcoming change in the schedule. This new schedule will consist of 7 classes and no more APP (Academic Preparation Period). Classes will become around 54 minutes each instead of 45 or 90. While I was talking to the principal I learned that she researched many different studies and has been working on this change for a long time. As she was reading studies she found out that, everything is dependent on the community of School Lane Charter School. Mrs. Weber said “All I want to do is figure out the best thing for our community. I want to make sure we are using our time efficiently and effectively.” 

When looking at the schedule you are probably thinking about what is going to happen with WINs that are important to the school, such as Academic Mentors, Prom committee, and other leadership opportunities. Miss Weber talked about how there will still be time for these things as they are important to her and our school. Maybe they can happen during advisory or another time during the school day. 

I asked Mrs. Weber what her opinion was about the student input and opinions that she was getting. She said “I feel that the students are being more open-minded about everything, I am happy to answer any questions and the students are being very clear and respectful about the change. This is something that I like about being a principal in this school.” 

Lastly, I asked what would happen if this schedule does not work out. Will there be more change? She said “This will be the last big change for a few years. I want to give the school some sense of stability so we will have to let this sink in. Me and the other administrators are prepared to make any minor changes if necessary but nothing major.”

I also had the opportunity to sit down with Mrs. Schade and talk to her about the new schedule and what it takes to be able to make these changes happen. While talking I learned that this new change has been a long process throughout around a year and a half. There was a lot of data and discussion that had to happen to reassure that she was making a good decision for this school. There was a lot of learning about how long student's attention spans were to make sure we were using the best of our time at School Lane Charter School. 

I asked what was her opinion on making all these changes in such a short amount of time. She said “Making all the changes within the same time frame made it easy to just rip the bandaid off. We needed to make changes and did it all at once so that way the students and staff would not get super comfortable and then another change would be made.” Change never is easy but it is a skill that everyone is going to need and have.  I also asked what made 54 minutes a good time frame for classes. She said “I Noticed that within this amount of time it is harder to lose the students attention span for one class period. Also saw that 54 minutes seems like the sweet spot between 45 and 90. It gives enough time for teachers to give instructions and teach a topic and keep the students engaged.”

This new change is going to be difficult to get used to, but we did it once we can do it again. What is your opinion on the new schedule and all the changes that have been happening?