Taylor Connard

Education 650

Standard Activity 4.17A

The current schedule for Clay County High School has been tweaked due to Covid-19.

Traditionally the school has operated on a period schedule with eight 45-minute classes. This

schedule has remained consistent for over six years, but with the onset of the pandemic, the

school was forced to change the schedule to better accommodate distance learning.

Clay County High School begins at 7:30. The first bell dismisses students to breakfast

and then on to first block. Each block is 90 minutes, except for first period. First period runs

from 7:30 a.m. to 9:27 a.m. Teachers are advised to not begin instruction until 7:55 a.m. Students

are allowed to eat breakfast in the classroom from 7:30 a.m. to 7:55 a.m. Second block is from

9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. After second block, students are dismissed to either Link Up or lunch. 9th

and 10th grade students report to Link Up until 11:30. While 9th and 10th are in Link Up, 11th and

12th are at lunch. When 11th and 12th go to Link Up, 9th and 10th then go to lunch. This Link Up

and Lunch period runs an hour, but is divided into 30-minute increments. At 12:00 p.m. students

report to third block. Third block ends at 1:33 p.m. and fourth block begins at 1:36 p.m. Fourth

block runs from 1:36 p.m. to 3:07 p.m. At 3:07 p.m. first run bus comes through. This bus comes

to the high school first and then picks up the middle school kids. First run goes towards the

towns of Clay, Ivydale, Maysel, Wallback, Big Otter, etc. Second run leaves at 3:15 p.m. after

first going to the middle school. Second run goes towards the towns of Indore, Bickmore,

Lizemore, and Dixie. Teachers are permitted to leave once second run bus has left the school

grounds.
 The switch to block schedule was created so that students have less classes to worry

about if the school were to go to distance learning due to Covid-19. It was a hard adjustment to

block schedule and forced closures have made it impossible to get lessons done, but overall there

is merit to having 90-minute classes. The 90-minute classes allow for more transitions and more

time to do more time-consuming projects. Utilizing technology is easier because you have the

time to get the laptops out and clean them up.

One of the issues with this schedule is the morning time from 7:30 a.m. to 7:55 a.m. This

is truly wasted time. Most of the students do not eat breakfast and therefore sit in the classroom

with nothing to do. We are not allowed to start instruction, so the time is just there. Many

students are bored and want to begin their lesson for the day. In the future, I could see this time

causing discipline issues. Teachers are required to be in the hallway during this time, which

leaves students unattended in the classrooms. It would be better if students could eat breakfast

while they filtered in from the busses before coming to class officially.

The school has made it clear that when Covid-19 is no longer a concern, we will go back

to period scheduling. Period scheduling is 45-minute class time. This schedule will require the

students to carry eight classes all year long. With period scheduling, they still extend breakfast

time as noninstructional time in class. I think that this needs to be examined and a better solution

created.