By Charlotte Corcoran
Amid the confusion and stress of returning to regular school, another conflict is brewing beneath the surface: the return of the 80-minute block schedule and its implications for the community.
The RPCS schedule currently contains three 80-minute classes in the mornings, with 20-minute passing periods in between. This schedule was first implemented in the 2019-2020 school year after years of work from the tri-schools. However, before the schedule could even be in place for a year, COVID-19 forced the tri-schools to go hybrid, resulting in changes to optimize the community’s health.
Colleen Kyle, the Upper School Head, came to RPCS in 2019, so her first year corresponded with this schedule’s first year. She offered insight into the conversations held while planning what this school year would look like. She said, “They [the Upper school heads at Bryn Mawr and Gilman] felt like they wanted to give it at least one more year of experience before making further changes given how long it had taken to get the three schools to agree.”
Though Ms. Kyle was not at RPCS for the original planning of the schedule, experience at her previous school supports the outcome the tri-schools settled on. She referenced one book in particular, Overloaded and Underprepared by Denise Pope, that uses research to support the notion of block schedules. The block schedule was specifically designed to allow students time between classes to reset their minds, provide opportunities to meet with teachers, and limit the amount of homework per night by dividing core classes over two days.
Some teachers seem to agree with the concept of the schedule but have found the actual application to be difficult. For example, Julie Marx, an Upper School History teacher, said, “It’s a great idea, but at the same time, we’re in high school so there’s a certain curriculum that we’re expected to follow and fulfill and especially if you’re teaching AP, there’s really not much to give.”
When asked if the 80-minute classes impacted the productivity and student experience, she said, “No, because I push on to cover what I need to cover. But does it affect the actual engagement and participation of students? I think it’s detrimental to students being able to engage over a long time.”
According to Nicole Yoder, learning specialist for the junior and senior classes, “It’s a very long morning for students with learning differences and even without learning differences, 80 minutes is a long time to sustain focus.” She also said, “I think fatigue is a definite impact. I think when kids get to 3rd period it’s just an overall, general glazed look of fatigue.”
Students seem to feel similarly to Mrs. Yoder about their daily experiences with the schedule. When asked about how the longer classes impacted her, Quinn Yarbrough, a student with ADHD, said, “After 60 minutes, I’m done, and I’m clocked out. It’s not even useful, it’s just me sitting there.”
The impacts of the schedule do not stop at the end of the school day. Quinn said, “I want to do my homework after all my classes, but I feel so drained.”
The administration has acknowledged these conflicting emotions towards the schedule and has mentioned they plan to look into how the future could look. Colleen Kyle said, “I do want to revisit it with our tri-school partners and have a committee looking at it again this year, and I think taking some surveys and getting some data will be important.”
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