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Health & Fitness

Block Scheduling: For Better or For Worse?

Block scheduling at Los Gatos High School.

It has been two years since Los Gatos High School changed its schedule from seven classes a day to block scheduling. The change was a major one for both students and teachers. A leading figure in the change was Markus Autrey, LGHS’s beloved principal.

Many teachers complain about the loss of hours overall from the school year. Since classes are now 90 minutes and every-other day, the total amount of time in one class has been cut by about seven days of classes total.

Other teachers like the change because before block, they felt that they were lacking proper time in one period to teach what they had to teach without being interrupted.

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Students are also iffy with this process. Some like the extra day to do homework and getting off early, while others hate the long classes. According to a school survey, 85 percent of students prefer block over regular schedule. There are many pros and cons to this new system, and LGHS is still trying to decided whether block scheduling is here to stay or not.

These have been some of the pros and cons according to students and teachers at LGHS.

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Pros:

  • More time to teach in class without interruption
  • More time to complete homework      
  • Longer tutorial (more time to ask teachers about homework and prepare for tests)
  • Only two or three subjects of homework a night verses six or seven
  • Students with only four or five periods can start school at 10 or end at 11:45 everyday or every other day, leaving more time for other activities such as work or sports

Cons:

  • Classes are 90 minutes long and students easily get side tracked or lose focus
  • Teachers lose seven days total of valuable teaching time out of the year
  • Homework assigned is longer than it would normally be
  • Students get out of school early and run amuck with no supervision.
  • After a day of not having a class the student may not be as fresh with the material learned in the previous class

One voice we haven’t heard from is the parents'. Which method do you all prefer and why? I would really appreciate some feedback on this subject. Please leave a comment! 

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