New Year, New Schedule 

Cardinals get a glimpse at block scheduling this year 

By: Ridley Sadd

As the Cardinals start the new school year, they have probably noticed that their days are looking a little different, and that is because of the new schedule implemented by high school principal Mrs. Michaela Gorake, which includes 2 days of block periods.  

“The block scheduling was accepted enthusiastically by all of the HS teaching staff. Teachers are excited to have the extra time with kids to do labs, projects and be able to dig deep into different concepts with students,” said Gorake. 

On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the block days, class period is an hour and 37 minutes long, with even class periods one day, and odd classes the other day.  

Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays are the same as last year. The Monday and Thursday classes are 47 minutes long, and students attend all eight class periods. On Fridays the class periods are 37 minutes long and students again attend all eight periods.

“I like the new schedule because on block scheduling days I get to sleep in.  Although, I do get confused sometimes on which class I am going to,” says Sophie Fitch, a senior at Doniphan-Trumbull.

Students have had to adjust to the new schedule. Sitting in class for an hour can be hard. If a teacher stops for 5 minutes or more it can help with the students focus. Some students may get confused with what classes they have each day.

“Students definitely have been impacted! Instead of seeing their teachers 5 times a week, now they see them 4 times. Since we are rotating which blocks are on Tuesdays each week, students have to remember which week we are in and go to the right block. This was done to accommodate for all the activities that happen on Tuesdays. Since many students are in activities that require them to be gone from class we didn't want the same block to fall on Tuesdays each week,” said Goracke.

The teachers have to have a plan to keep the students engaged in class.  Students become unfocused when sitting at their desks for over an hour. Doing fun activities for even just five minutes can help the students to refocus during these long class periods. 

“It has impacted them greatly because they have to plan differently. They have to think about how to break up the 90 minutes to keep kids' interest in what they are doing. I know several teachers are thinking about it as 3 different 30 minute activities, or 4- minute chunks then time to work independently. It really depends on what the objectives for the day are and the activities that the teachers have developed to master those objectives,” says Goracke. 

Students and staff are working together to make this schedule effective, hoping to create more opportunities for students to focus on specific classes on certain days ands creates a better learning environment at Doniphan-Trumbull.