Students and staff got to experience block scheduling for the first time due to winter MAP testing.

Students reported to their first, second, and third periods on the first day of the block schedule. On the second day they reported to their fourth, fifth and sixth periods. Both days consisted of two hour class periods, but followed the normal bell schedule and contained the same times for break, pride time and lunch.  

In the first MAP testing that occurred in the beginning of the school year, many students didn’t finish the test in a single class period because of how long and time consuming the test is.

“The idea of the block schedule was to decrease the strain on English and Math teachers in trying to track down students for MAP testing. Ideally, a higher percentage of students would complete the test on the two blocked days and fewer students would need to be scheduled to complete the test during Pride Time,” stated Economic and Government teacher, Mr. Bowman Halpin.

MAP testing takes place in the beginning, middle, and end of the school year. The completion rate of winter’s MAP testing with block scheduling was higher than the testing that took place in the fall. The Math portion reached a completion percentage of 91.4% and 81.1% in English. Block scheduling is confirmed to be used for the last MAP testing of the school year because of its successful outcome, according to our Learning Director, Mrs. Pamela Snively.

Mrs. Snively also mentioned how she would like to change the school’s current schedule to block schedule in the future, in hopes that students will start school earlier to be released at an earlier time. This specifically targets student athletes that end their days late in the evenings. But as of now this is just an idea that has come up and won’t be implemented until further discussion among admin and teachers.