Understanding SET’s Modified Block Scheduling

Our block scheduling can be confusing and can take awhile to get used to. If you are familiar with 4×4 block scheduling, the SET Modified Block Scheduling is similar, but improved to handle the “math problem”. Traditional Scheduling has 7 or 8 year-long classes that are each around 40 to 50 minutes long. 4×4 Block Scheduling has 4 double-length classes that last only half the year, and at the half-year mark, the entire schedule changes to 4 new classes. The benefits are that there is a longer period of time for each class so that teachers can get deeper into material before the class is over, the students have fewer classes that they are focusing on simultaneously, there is less task-switching for the students, the structure is more similar to college classes, it is quicker and easier for students to recover credits if they fall behind, and it reduces the boredom that can set in doing the same thing for the entire year. It all sounds great, except there is a “math problem” because it is possible for students to go an entire year without math in some cases, and a half-year without math in most cases.  The same can happen for English, of course, but there are other classes where writing is required so the effects are smaller.

The SET Modified Block Schedule is like the 4×4 Block Schedule, but it solves the “math problem” by having most math classes be year-long and double-length. There are a few exceptions for students who wish to accelerate in math. For example, there is an Algebra/Geometry combo class and a Pre-Calc/Calculus combo class. All other math classes are year-long. This solves the “math problem” because students are enrolled in a math class all year, even if they take one of the accelerated math classes.

Here is how it works:

• Every class receives two grades.  You can think of this as the Semester 1 grade and the Semester 2 grade, but we use the word Part instead.  There will always be two grades received for each class.  English 9 is broken into English 9A and English 9B, for example, and a student receives a grade on their transcript for each part.
• There are two terms and inside each term, there are two parts
  • Fall Term (Aug to Dec)
    • Part A1 (Aug to Oct)
    • Part A2 (Oct to Dec)
  • Spring Term (Jan to Jun)
    • Part B1 (Jan to Mar)
    • Part B2 (Apr to Jun)
• For most classes, the entire year’s worth of material is finished in a single term. There are some exceptions, like the aforementioned math classes that are year-long.
• Sometimes you will hear the word Semester used in place of Part, but we are trying to no longer use that word because it is confusing for people who think of a semester as being half of a school year.
• You will also sometimes hear staff using A and B to refer to the two parts of the class instead of Part 1 and Part  2 because the name English 9A looks less confusing than English 9(1) and most other schools use the A and B designation for the two parts.  We maybe should have used different Part names in hindsight, but we’re stuck with the way we have it for at least this year.
• The year-long classes span across the entire year and only receive grades at the end of each term (in Dec for the Fall term and in June for the Spring term)
  • These grades use the designations S1 and S2 (or Semester 1 and Semester 2) to differentiate them from A1 and A2, for example.
• To reduce the confusion for people outside of SET (colleges, for example), the transcript converts everything to S1 and S2.  So regardless of when the class was actually taken, the transcript will clear things up and reference S1 and S2.  We know that this is more confusing for our own  students and parents, but trust us, this makes it less confusing for those outside of SET who are just trying to match things to the way they are used to seeing them.

To add to the confusion, the 9th grade Leadership and Strength of Mind and Body classes have yet another grading style because we wanted to make sure that all of our 9th graders were exposed to Ms. Geis’ teaching for the entire year.  Those two classes have an A/B type scheduling where the students alternate each day between the two classes.  If we used our normal block scheduling for those two classes, half of our students wouldn’t receive Ms. Geis’ instruction until the Spring term and that would not be good for the culture-building that is so important for our 9th graders.  So for those two classes, the grading period ends at the end of the Fall Term and the end of the Spring Term similar to the year-long classes.

Here is another way of looking at it:

• August: Spring term starts
• October: Grades final for Part 1 of Fall Term semester-long courses
• December: Grades final for Part 2 of Fall Term semester-long courses and Part 1 of year-long courses
• January: Fall term starts
• March: Grades final for Part 1 of Spring Term semester-long courses
• June: Grades final for Part 2 of Spring Term semester-long courses and Part 2 of year-long courses

All of this is made all the more confusing because our own teachers are either set in their ways and forget to use the new language that we have established or are new and haven’t gotten a handle on it themselves, yet.  When talking to the admin staff, at least, we should be consistent in our language, and we will continue to work on having the whole staff be consistent with their language.

If you’re still confused, help us make this description less confusing by asking questions.  Or, you can just trust that the right thing is happening and be pleasantly (hopefully!) surprised when a new report card is posted.