I’m told it was a unanimous board vote and will start with the 2011-2012 school year.
Hey school board. Great timing! It’s finals week you know. Do you think just maybe upsetting such a large apple cart could have waited another week?
Block scheduling means longer class periods. While some administrators will promise better educational returns, I have to doubt that. I finished college not too many years ago. Most of my classes were an hour and a half or so long. I argue the mind can only absorb what the backside can endure. It’s really a long time to sit, and you can bet classes will have to be planned around that reality.
I predict, in a way that only I can (giggle), the school board will test this one out for a couple of years and then undo it, just like that mind-numbingly brilliant idea to do half days every couple of Thursdays instead of early release once a week.
Just maybe someday they’ll figure out real ways to save real money instead of screwing the kids for less than half a million a year. (I’m not impressed with this one. Can you tell?)
Like I’ve said about twenty times by now – there’s never been a better time to be leaving Elmbrook schools.
Franklin Public Schools studied the concept of block scheduling for roughly a year before recommending and approving it for Franklin High School beginning this September. Several area high schools already utilize block scheduling, including South Milwaukee High School, to apparent success and improvement among students.
I agree with you about sitting for a long time, but most top schools have block scheduling and it seems to work.
Also, it’s good for extracurriculars and helps kids balance the demands of their life better. On the traditional schedule, you end up having an unreliable test and quiz schedule, and have to do homework in 6 areas each night. Some students are better working on one or two things at a time. It depends on the person, but i’d argue it won’t be a catastrophe.
My daughter will be starting block scheduling at Franklin High next year, so I’ll let you know how it goes. I have to say that I have an open mind about it. I was amazed that when we developed her schedule, she had room for 3 additional semesters of electives AFTER band and Spanish. So in addition to all the required classes, she is going to take a intro business class, a computers class and TV production class (this one looks fun!).
Ok, I’ll keep an open mind. (Except it really won’t affect me.) I am speaking from my own experience with a longer class. In college we could leave when the lecture was done – that’s not going to work in high school.
I’m not going to back down on the idea of the school board waiting a week or two to create this mess. They seem to have an incredibly hard time looking outside of their little administrative bubble.
I’m not crazy about it either, but I’ve been persuaded that it may be preferable. So I’m keeping an open mind, too. But I agree that they could have waited a week.
The main concern surrounding this from the student body is not the 93 minute class periods or the 30 minute lunches, but the fact that this will lead to a reduction of faculty members in both schools. When this plan goes into effect, teachers will be laid off. And worst of all, they want to lay off all of the teachers who are well-respected at both schools simply due to the fact that they are at the bottom of the totem pole – but that’s an issue inside of an issue.
Inside the teacher’s union.
A lot of teachers on that list I wouldn’t have been sorry to see go. It’s all subjective.