By Stephanie Toste
Branford High School will have a new schedule next school year, but it is not clear yet what exactly it will look like. The school has recently put together a committee of faculty, leadership team members, administration, along with a student and parent representative, to help go about this change.
“[The committee] will be going through a process to answer three guiding questions given to the administration to review,” said Principal Lee Panagoulias.
About five years ago, BHS had a routine accreditation visit from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, or NEASC. During the visit in the fall of 2016, they looked at every aspect of the master schedule in order to make sure that it is up to date in supporting the goals and practices of the school. This committee reviewed the BHS schedule and recommended that Branford High School make changes to its schedule.
For years, Branford High School has had an eight-period-a-day schedule. There have been other scheduling committees in place that made recommendations since the NEASC visit, but none were adopted by the administration. This year’s schedule was changed in the summer to accommodate the challenges of the pandemic and the hybrid learning model.
Mr. Panagoulias said the three guiding questions – or drivers – are part of this most recent process. He said the committee’s goal is to establish what the drivers are by looking at student and faculty feedback. He said the drivers are as follows:
- What is our goal for the future (2022-23 and beyond)?
- What is the appropriate schedule to use next year to transition from our current hybrid block schedule to that goal?
- How do we support students, faculty, and parents during this transition?
Once the committee has completed their process, Mr. Panagoulias said, “they will recommend to administration a BHS daily schedule for next year… Daily schedules such as a block, trimester, 8-period day, and possibly other variations are being discussed both as a schedule for next year and going forward.”
One aspect that this committee stresses is feedback, so how do the students feel about our school’s recent scheduling habits?
Many students seem to prefer elements of this year’s schedule and would want to keep some of those in place for next year and beyond, including all remote Wednesdays and a later starting time.
“I hate that we don’t have enough time in classes to do everything that we need to,” says junior Nitya Bam about our old schedule, “…I like that the block gives us time to fully focus on one class.”
Senior Bo Yun Brainderd agrees, saying, “Personally, I appreciated the half day on Wednesday because it gave me a mental health break that was never granted to us before… our education system as of right now is not sustainable for future generations. Allowing a break isn’t as damaging as the school district thinks it is, especially for older students.”
Some other students have suggestions for how to improve the new schedule as well. Junior Tyler Jarvis said he would prefer shorter class periods and an 8 o’clock start time. Other students also said they wish lunch will stay longer in a new schedule.
“[I want] longer lunch because there was never enough time to actually eat, especially for people buying lunch,” said junior Julia Duffy.
What are your thoughts about next year’s schedule at BHS? Let us know what you are thinking in the comments or on Twitter @BranfordBuzz
