Woodland High School considering schedule change for 2023-2024

MARBLE HILL, Mo. — Woodland High School is considering a change in its daily schedule for the 2023-2024 school year.

Currently, high school students have seven classes per year, each meeting every day for approximately 45 minutes. The proposed change would transition to block scheduling, where students take eight classes, each meeting three times a week. Two of those sessions would be for 85 minutes. On Mondays, students would go to all eight classes for the traditional 45 minutes. The other four days, students would attend only half of their classes, but for 85-minute blocks of time.

Interested parents and students are invited to an informational meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 30, in the high school library.

School administration said they believe the change would provide many advantages. The longer class periods would provide an opportunity for classes to dig deeper into their course curriculum, increased time for hands-on activities, and more meaningful contact time between teachers and students. Less time will be wasted in transition from class to class.

Curriculum director Barbie Stroder said the biggest advantage will come from the addition of an eighth class.

"The state sets 17 specific courses that students are required to take, and 24 courses are needed to receive a high school diploma. This leaves them with four courses to explore a particular career path they are interested in pursuing. If we expand to a block schedule, it gives the students the opportunity to explore four more classes during their high school career, which could open up more career opportunities for those students," Stroder said.

Freshmen in particular could benefit from this additional class. Currently, freshmen have room for only one elective class in their schedule. Every other hour is taken up by a required class. The change will allow freshmen to begin exploring their interests and abilities a year sooner.

RootEd college and career adviser April Brumfield expanded on this idea with an example.

"Students who say they like science in eighth grade might be encouraged to take science electives to explore what type of science they like best. They could end up in animal and vet science in the agriculture department and in ecology and botany in the science department," Brumfield said.

This early exposure could potentially open up more career opportunities for those students. As upperclassmen, students would have time for options currently unavailable. Brumfield followed the sample students later into high school.

"If they decided that animal science was the direction they wanted to go, they could possibly spend two afternoons a week working with a local vet to learn more about the field before spending money on becoming a vet technician or a veterinarian," she said.

Walking across the stage with more experience can save money in other ways. College-bound students will have a chance to acquire almost 30 hours of college credit at Woodland with the expanded schedule. They could enter college with an entire year of courses under their belt. The courses are priced at a cheaper rate when they're taken during high school; and if the student meets certain qualifications, the classes are paid for by the district.

"That is a huge economic burden lifted from the student and parents' shoulders," Brumfield said.

The schedule change is not without concerns, however. One worry, prime among students, is that they will be expected to "sit and get" for 85 straight minutes in a class. One student, who said it was already hard not falling asleep in some classes, is concerned about being able to pay attention for twice as long. Principal Shawn Kinder admits that teachers will have to be trained how to use the additional time effectively.

Sophomore Jespn Evans, who has attended a school with block scheduling, prefers the longer class periods.

"We could do things that really helped us learn. The teachers would break the class into different parts," Evans said.

In math class, for example, teachers could cover a new strategy and then give students class time to work on it while answering questions or providing additional assistance. Teachers have expressed that it will take time to adjust to the change and adapt current lessons to fit the longer time frames. One advantage, though, is that the longer time will allow for in-depth experiments and projects that may not be possible with the current 45-minute class periods.

"Having the ability to dive into more intense, project-based learning with additional time is a plus," Kinder said. "In the vocational areas, for example, classes will have time to do more than just get out the tools and equipment. This will provide more time and more opportunities for our students."

Another concern some parents have expressed is whether students will suffer from not going to every class every day. Will students forget what they learned Tuesday by the time they return to a class on Thursday? Will an absence carry more weight in the classes meeting that day?

Proponents of the block schedule say having only four classes a day will allow students to focus better on fewer subjects, plus buy them a little more time to complete homework before it's due.

"We're not going to have all the answers right now," Kinder said, "but the thing that I really get excited about is the potential for deeper learning."

Stroder said the new schedule has the potential to "open doors" to Woodland students.

"Our society is more mobile today. Very few people choose a job at 18 and stay with that exact same job until they retire," she said. "Having a broader knowledge base allows our students to compete for a greater variety of jobs. I hope they will find two or three paths that they enjoy so they are able to adapt and change as the job industry changes. Many of the jobs they will have may not even be jobs we are aware of yet. The world and workforce change quickly."