It’s that time of year again! The time that juniors test for 2 weeks and everyone else drags their feet to get to their longer hour classes. Block scheduling will return on March 4th! The block schedule will go on for two weeks. Monday/Thursdays will have odd numbered periods while Tuesday/Friday will have even numbered periods. Wednesday will resume normally as an early release day with all 1-6 periods. Block schedules occur every year to allow for the Juniors to CAASP. The whole school changes its schedules to ensure the juniors have a fair chance to be in all classes for an equal amount of time since everyone has different schedules.
Many students dread having a block schedule because it affects not just the juniors. Armijo adapts the schedule to the block schedule although plenty of schools do Block schedules year round. After talking with fellow students I can conclude that we as students prefer the normal schedule and adapting to change is not always easy. Students have a harder time retaining knowledge between when they initially learned it than when it’s due, although it is helpful to have extra time to do homework when assigned.
I spoke with a few teachers as well who didn’t seem too thrilled about it either. They feel like students do get a little more done when they have them but that same momentum is lost by the next time they see the students. Kids tend to forget what was taught and it feels like more review than what typically occurs in a normal school day. Along with that, teachers lose their prep periods some days, which could stress teachers out or make them feel less prepared. Block schedule makes the curriculum move faster and that could affect how students perform on tests. Overall, I think that Armijo would not positively benefit if we chose to convert to Block scheduling permanently, for now the Armijo community seems to think regular schedules work better.
