Thursday, February 1, 2018

Block Scheduling is coming to CCHS

Crittenden County High School will be changing to a non-traditional block scheduling concept next school year, aiming to benefit student education as a whole, say administrators.

Referred to as A/B block scheduling, the system offer students more time each period across two days rather than having the same seven-period schedule each day.

Crittenden County Board of Education members appear to agree that transitioning to an A/B Block Schedule will bring about positive change, but are concerned about challenges for faculty and students alike.

"We have been talking about this for two months, and at our last meeting ... more than three-fourths of faculty decided that was the route they wanted to go in," CCHS Principal Curtis Brown told board members during a recent working session of the board. "Since November, the most recent conclusions we have come to is that overall, the faculty want to go this route. That is the direction Crittenden Schools are headed in for next year.”

Beginning with the 2018-19 academic year, CCHS students and educators will meet for classes every other day for 90 minutes, rather than daily for sessions of 45 minutes. With a block schedule in place, there will be fewer classes each day, rather than seven a day. The schedule will alternate from day to day.

Each day of the week is designated an A day or a B day, hence the term A/B block scheduling. Each Day A will have certain classes, and each Day B will have others. What classes students attend on Monday will be different on Tuesday, and so on.

Strategies for implementing block schedules will help make changes easier and more effective.

Faculty are working to make the transition as smooth as possible... For the rest of this article, which was originally published in The Crittenden Press printed edition on Jan. 18, 2018, visit the newspaper office on East Bellville St., in Marion.