Day by day, week by week, students here at South face the same routine: all seven of their classes in the same order, every day for a full semester or more. Limited changes, if any, are made to how students go about their classes day-to-day. However, not every school still follows a schedule having every class every day.
Block scheduling, where classes and schedules are broken up across multiple days, is used in approximately 30 percent of schools according to the School Superintendents Association. For example, University Liggett School uses block scheduling for their high school students, with each class lasting one hour and five minutes and occurring on certain days of the week. Henry Kubitz ’28, a student at Liggett, knows how the system works very well.
“We only have every class three times a week, and most classes have a repeat once,” Kubitz said. “We’ll have a class Monday and Tuesday, and then we won’t have it again until Thursday.”
A shift from seven classes a day, five days a week to having different schedules daily could be a difficult change for some. While nothing is currently planned by the Grosse Pointe Public School System, some students at South might not welcome block schedules with open arms. Evan Szymanski ’27 is primarily concerned with how his day would feel less broken up.
“I enjoy seeing all seven of my teachers throughout the day and getting to move around the school more often,” Szymanski said. “I think a block schedule would just be too long.”
Such a change would not only affect the students, but would cause massive changes for teachers as well. Christopher Booth, a social studies teacher at South, expresses concerns about how teachers would need to adjust their class structure, and thinks that the current schedule would be hard to change. However, he also considers how education after high school functions compared to South.
“Universities and colleges, this [block scheduling] is what they do, so why are we drastically different doing a seven period day,” Booth said. “Is it more tradition, or is it still the best practice?”
While some students and teachers alike both have concerns, benefits like more time in class to connect with their teachers and having more class time to complete their homework could further student development. Kubitz thinks that the benefits and drawbacks of block scheduling are not always constant.
“I feel like it depends on the kid, it really gives you time to reflect on what you’ve learned and the teachers can give you a lot of information,” Kubitz said. “I feel like it’s really personal preference.”
