6+1=7, right?

January 26, 2010 • written by Jessica Ferrell  
Filed under News

Nearly everyone on campus has heard the rumors that BHS is moving to a “seven-period school day” in the fall of 2010. Well, the rumors are true. Sort of.

After Shelby County Schools became a part of the Tennessee Diploma Program, the graduation credit requirements for the 2009-2010 freshmen increased from 20 to 22.

In order to fulfill these additional credit requirements, Shelby County School’s superintendent John Aitken asked schools to figure out a new schedule that will incorporate an opportunity for students to receive more credits.

Houston and Millington chose a trimester schedule, consisting of three twelve-week grading periods. Other Shelby County Schools decided to use some form of the hybrid block schedule.

Bartlett’s version of this hybrid block schedule, also known as “6 + 1,” offers students the chance of earning seven credits in one school year as opposed to the normal six.

“Our belief is that since the juniors and seniors do not have to have as many credits, we needed to find something that’s flexible enough to allow freshmen and sophomores to earn seven [credits],” Vice-Principal Jane Gatewood said. “The juniors and seniors wouldn’t have to earn seven but could.”

However, school hours will not change whatsoever. Instead, most fourth-period classes will no longer observe “Channel One” time, a 30-minute period once reserved for a teen news broadcast. By doing so, these classes will extend to a 90-minute instructional period.

Though many underclassmen oppose the idea of having a seven-class schedule, they may be relieved to know that they will not be spending anymore time at school than they already do.

Currently, classes only receive half of a credit per semester. With six classes each semester, the total number of credits received at the end of the school year is six. On this new schedule, however, students will be able to receive a full credit for each semester of the 90-minute fourth period class (+1 class). When the second semester rolls around, students will just take a different class in order to receive another full credit.

With these two whole credits, the total possible credits for the year will grow to seven. By the time a freshman (or next year’s sophomore) becomes a senior, he or she will have fulfilled all of the credit requirements in order to graduate and could possibly earn more than the required credits.

Current sophomores and juniors who still only have to earn 20 credits for graduation have the choice between the full credit class and normal half-credit class.

“I’ve tried to expand the elective offerings so that there would be more opportunities for juniors and seniors to take an additional class that they might be interested in,” Gatewood said.

Not all fourth-period classes are switching to the one semester session.

The administration is not looking for students to fulfill the requirements early, but even if students do they will not be allowed to leave school early or graduate earlier than their classmates. This schedule will simply provide extra electives for them that will add to their curriculum.

“The thing that I do anticipate having to address is the fact that there would be seniors who would not choose to take an additional class,” Gatewood said. “They might end up with two study halls and you can’t have more than one study hall in each semester. I look at that as something we’ll have to deal with on an individual basis.”

Because most of the +1 classes will be electives, students will have more of a variety of classes to choose from. Although next year’s schedule will feature new classes, the school will not be increasing the number of faculty members. Thus, some teachers will have an extra class, and some teachers will not be affected by the schedule at all.

Because many teachers will have an extra class, it would be easy to assume that the extra class will put a great strain on them. How is it possible for a teacher of a larger class to keep the attention of students for a full hour and a half?

According to Gatewood, this 90-minute period will not consist of straight lecture. Teachers will break the class into segments.  Some of the class period will be devoted to lecture, but other class time will include workshops, group study, classwork, and possibly guest speakers.

Because the +1 class period’s instructional time differs from the full-year period, teachers will have to limit the material that they cover.

“If it is a blocked [+1] class, it will be incumbent upon the teacher to go through and choose those standards and those curricular topics that are most important. There will be some things that will be not as important that will need to be eliminated,” Gatewood said. “That’s difficult for a teacher to do because they’re all important.”

Also, this schedule will give students an easier opportunity for course recovery than having to attend summer school.

“Students need the opportunity to retake classes within the school year rather than summer school in order to stay on track for timely graduation,” Gatewood said.

Summer school will still occur, but this new schedule will limit the number of students who need to re-take a class.

The +1 classes offered next year will not simply consist of electives. Some core classes will be one semester as well. Because students are only involved in a core class for one semester, will they be losing vital information that they could be learning throughout the school year? No.

“It’s going to vary. What I’ve got to be certain of is if a student were taking ninth-grade English, I would have to have that student enrolled in something that is an English elective first semester in order for the student not to lose skill,” Gatewood said.

These “core electives” will be, for example, Creative Writing or Reading in the Content Area.

With this new schedule, students will see the immediate benefits and simplicities involved with the seven-credit school year.

And school will still be over at the two-o’clock bell.