HomeRoom And LoNg BlockS Up For Debate
By Sadie Biehl and Ava DeSimone
With the prospect of changes to the Mashpee Middle High School schedule, a committee of teachers from within the school has been organized to collect feedback on the new schedule to make an informed recommendation to the school committee as to how the schedule should be handled in the future.
Students will pick their classes in late March as usual, but it will likely be an open question whether the school will have longer blocks again next year.
At the beginning of last school year, Mashpee Middle High School implemented a brand new schedule to better accommodate safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. As students and staff adjusted to the new schedule, many benefits were noticed as well as issues that need to be addressed.
Prior to the pandemic, the schedule followed a seven day rotation where students attended six of their classes and dropped one class each day. Most of the class periods hit around the 52-minute mark, with one class known as “long block,” which lasted an hour and ten minutes.
Now, the school is using a block schedule, where students attend their first four classes on A days, and their second four classes on B days. These classes are much longer than before, lasting 85 minutes each. Because MMHS students only take seven classes per year, the new schedule has allowed for students to have a study block on B days during period eight.
With the prospect of changes to the Mashpee Middle High School schedule, a committee of teachers from within the school has been organized to collect feedback on the new schedule to make an informed recommendation to the school committee as to how the schedule should be handled in the future.
Students will pick their classes in late March as usual, but it will likely be an open question whether the school will have longer blocks again next year.
At the beginning of last school year, Mashpee Middle High School implemented a brand new schedule to better accommodate safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. As students and staff adjusted to the new schedule, many benefits were noticed as well as issues that need to be addressed.
Prior to the pandemic, the schedule followed a seven day rotation where students attended six of their classes and dropped one class each day. Most of the class periods hit around the 52-minute mark, with one class known as “long block,” which lasted an hour and ten minutes.
Now, the school is using a block schedule, where students attend their first four classes on A days, and their second four classes on B days. These classes are much longer than before, lasting 85 minutes each. Because MMHS students only take seven classes per year, the new schedule has allowed for students to have a study block on B days during period eight.
The study block, which is also known as homeroom, is one of the most commonly praised benefits of the new schedule. MMHS junior Braden Fraser said, “I like homeroom because it gives us time to get our work done, with heavy class loads, like AP classes, you need to have homework time. Especially if you’re an athlete or do clubs. It’s also good to go see teachers for help during the homeroom block.” It allows for students to get lots of their homework done as well as attend extracurricular activities.
It is not just students who appreciate the schedule. One math teacher, Ms. Lawson shared her thoughts on the schedule as well. “I think the schedule overall has pros and cons. I think the homeroom block is super helpful for students who use it wisely, but not for students who aren’t motivated. It’s a long time for them to just sit around doing nothing and wasting time. It is helpful for the students who actually use it so I think it’s a good thing to have in place overall.”
Importantly, the schedule cuts down on movement between classes and how many people students are in contact with each day. This was the original motivation for the new schedule.
Despite these benefits, many members of the MMHS community have raised concerns about the schedule. The schedule does not give students the same amount of in-class time as they would have with the old schedule. Not to mention, each class only meets two or three times a week.
Mashpee High School Junior Hadley Medeiros said, “For AP classes we don’t get to cover as much content as quickly, so there is a lot of awkward space in classes, so then we get extra work we don’t need to do instead of being focused on the lessons.” Other teachers of AP classes have mentioned that the schedule presents difficulties considering the AP exams take place in early May.
In addition to the limitations on time spent in the classroom, the homeroom block has developed its own set of problems that the school is grappling with. Many students have been found to be using the block inappropriately by roaming the halls, or engaging in recreational activities with friends. The study period was intended to give students the opportunity to get their schoolwork done. It is still an opportunity for students to do work, but it is also used for lots of extracurricular activities and other meetings. Some students say that because the study block has been taken over by their extracurricular activities, there is hardly time left to complete other school work.
Members of the MMHS staff have formed the Schedule Committee, who are responsible for deciding what type of schedule will be the best fit for the school. The Committee is led by high school history teacher, Ms. McCauley, and Assistant Superintendent Dr. Hanscom. Ms. McCauley is also the Vice President of Mashpee’s teacher union. She told The Falconer about her and Dr. Hanscom’s responsibilities, saying, “We set the agendas, we gather information that the members of the committee are looking for, and we are collaborating and helping lead the scheduling committee.”
Recently, Ms. McCauley sent out a survey to all MMHS students regarding the schedule. She values student input to educate her and the committee’s recommendation to the Mashpee School Committee.
She explained that “The survey is just an initial step and the results of it require us to ask some more questions, whether that’s in the form of a survey or in another format, this gives us information and also helps us move forward in the different types of questions that we want to ask or potential strengths and weaknesses that we want to either correct or focus on and emphasize.”
The question of whether we are continuing with the block schedule is undetermined. However, it seems like that information will be shared soon: “The timeline for us to make our recommendation to the school committee is in May. So that will really determine whether or not we are moving forward with this block schedule or if we are reverting back to our traditional pre-Covid schedule.”
With positive and negative feedback from students, the council is able to use the information to move forward. The issues that have arisen will be considered to help navigate the future at Mashpee High School.
It is not just students who appreciate the schedule. One math teacher, Ms. Lawson shared her thoughts on the schedule as well. “I think the schedule overall has pros and cons. I think the homeroom block is super helpful for students who use it wisely, but not for students who aren’t motivated. It’s a long time for them to just sit around doing nothing and wasting time. It is helpful for the students who actually use it so I think it’s a good thing to have in place overall.”
Importantly, the schedule cuts down on movement between classes and how many people students are in contact with each day. This was the original motivation for the new schedule.
Despite these benefits, many members of the MMHS community have raised concerns about the schedule. The schedule does not give students the same amount of in-class time as they would have with the old schedule. Not to mention, each class only meets two or three times a week.
Mashpee High School Junior Hadley Medeiros said, “For AP classes we don’t get to cover as much content as quickly, so there is a lot of awkward space in classes, so then we get extra work we don’t need to do instead of being focused on the lessons.” Other teachers of AP classes have mentioned that the schedule presents difficulties considering the AP exams take place in early May.
In addition to the limitations on time spent in the classroom, the homeroom block has developed its own set of problems that the school is grappling with. Many students have been found to be using the block inappropriately by roaming the halls, or engaging in recreational activities with friends. The study period was intended to give students the opportunity to get their schoolwork done. It is still an opportunity for students to do work, but it is also used for lots of extracurricular activities and other meetings. Some students say that because the study block has been taken over by their extracurricular activities, there is hardly time left to complete other school work.
Members of the MMHS staff have formed the Schedule Committee, who are responsible for deciding what type of schedule will be the best fit for the school. The Committee is led by high school history teacher, Ms. McCauley, and Assistant Superintendent Dr. Hanscom. Ms. McCauley is also the Vice President of Mashpee’s teacher union. She told The Falconer about her and Dr. Hanscom’s responsibilities, saying, “We set the agendas, we gather information that the members of the committee are looking for, and we are collaborating and helping lead the scheduling committee.”
Recently, Ms. McCauley sent out a survey to all MMHS students regarding the schedule. She values student input to educate her and the committee’s recommendation to the Mashpee School Committee.
She explained that “The survey is just an initial step and the results of it require us to ask some more questions, whether that’s in the form of a survey or in another format, this gives us information and also helps us move forward in the different types of questions that we want to ask or potential strengths and weaknesses that we want to either correct or focus on and emphasize.”
The question of whether we are continuing with the block schedule is undetermined. However, it seems like that information will be shared soon: “The timeline for us to make our recommendation to the school committee is in May. So that will really determine whether or not we are moving forward with this block schedule or if we are reverting back to our traditional pre-Covid schedule.”
With positive and negative feedback from students, the council is able to use the information to move forward. The issues that have arisen will be considered to help navigate the future at Mashpee High School.