Schedules
Lunch on the block schedule
High school students on the block schedule attend school from 7:30 a.m. to 2:10
p.m. or about 6 ½ hours. Lunch is served around 10:30 a.m. or midway through the
day to accommodate students who must leave to attend university, GTI or academy
classes. Asked at Skyline High School community meeting, January 16,
2008.
Asked at Skyline High School community meeting, January 16,
2008
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Block schedule
The block schedule - generally ninety minute classes every other day - has been
the norm for our high schools for the last several years. This approach to
scheduling provides many benefits to both Granite District students and teachers
during the course of an academic year:
• flexibility for students to participate in courses not
offered at their home schools but as academies or specialized programs in other
high schools or at the GTI
• more time for performance, career and technical, and lab classes which often
require additional set up/clean up time
• class time, after instruction in a concept, for immediate re-teaching or
group/project work
• an additional period in which to schedule a course of special interest or to
meet increased graduation requirements
• more instructional minutes per day, less hallway passing time
• collaboration/preparation time daily for teachers
• It is also true, though, that the eight-period block schedule has critics who
express the following: teachers don’t know their students as well because they
don’t see them often enough
• time is wasted; kids forget their assignments and instruction
• some classes like math or world languages require daily exposure; the
curriculum is reduced since changing to block
• class sizes are larger
Some of the issues raised above can and should be addressed
at the teacher level, regardless of the school schedule. Others can be addressed
by the school itself. Some schools on the block schedule still manage to
subdivide class periods to allow for math or world language on a daily basis.
Many staffs have had extensive professional development in teaching on the block
and are able to differentiate instruction, provided multiple activities, teach
for depth rather than breadth and excite and engage their students who then
thrive on the block schedule. Though more common at the elementary level, some
secondary schools have even addressed large class sizes with parent volunteers
who work with small groups of students on projects or enrichment activities made
possible with the extended block time period.
Asked at Skyline High School community meeting, January 16,
2008
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