by Chloe Jordan | feature editor

It is anticipated that next year’s bell schedule will be similar this year’s, with the exception of possibly starting five minutes later and ending five minutes earlier. 

“Everything is still being finalized, but what they did take to the board was to continue with the flex period one day each week, and the early release, which allows teachers to have PLC time one day a week,” Principal Gary Comalander said.

To accommodate for extra time taken up by flex periods, shorter passing periods are necessary to meet the minimum of 45 minutes in a class.

“To meet that and still do the other things Tuesday and Thursday, we have to go to four minute passing periods, which is enough time, it just cuts out talking time in the hallway,” Comalander said.

PLC, or Professional Learning Community time, gives teachers an uninterrupted hour to completely focus on planning.

“They get to get with others in their same subject and discuss scores and data and what works, what doesn’t work and plan to make things better for the kids,” Comalander said.

According to Comalander, the benefits of having an early release day outweigh the benefits of having a second flex day.

“I think it’s very beneficial to give kids on Thursday a chance to get some other stuff done, makeup quizzes they might have missed, or work on a project, get intervention help, and not have such a load going into the weekend,” Comalander said. “And then Tuesday, it’s nice to finish an hour earlier. We know days are long.”