Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. is continuing plans to switch to block scheduling for high school students this fall, despite any changes that may occur as a result of reopening plans within the pandemic.
BCSC Superintendent Jim Roberts said that the block system in high schools will aid social distancing once schools reopen.
“The more static you can keep kids, the better, just in terms of their movement and the less people they’re around, the better,” he said. “And a block schedule is a more static model, at least from that standpoint, because the students are not out in the hallways quite as many times as they would be in a seven or eight period day.”
BCSC’s board voted in April 2019 to switch the system’s three high schools to a block schedule starting with the 2020-21 school year. Previously, the high school schedule consisted of eight 45-minute periods each day. Starting this fall, students will attend four 88-minute classes each day on a two-day rotation with a student resource time and student advisory period built into alternating days.
Bill Jensen, director of secondary instruction, said the resource and advisory periods could provide a convenient time to discuss not just the pandemic with students, but also other real-world issues, such as the current protests. He also said that these special periods are intended to emphasize “social, emotional learning,” address the issues that many students struggle with, (such as stress, anxiety and isolation) and strengthen relationships between students and teachers.
“Not only do we want to do that just in advisory, although advisory is primarily designed for that, we also want to make sure that we’re doing a better job of that in the classroom, so we have more time with our students to really get to know our students to establish those kinds of relationships,” Jensen added.
Teachers will also be able to use some of this period for planning, although Jensen said that the exact implementation may vary depending on the school. One high school might allot half of the resource period for planning and the other half for student supervision; another might choose to do planning periods every other day.
The first day of school for BCSC students is currently scheduled for Aug. 6.
