By Natalie Reich

Sentry Staff Reporter

There have been various rumors floating around school about a possible new schedule for the 2014-2015 school year. Rumors have raised questions such as, “Will there be block classes everyday? How many times a week will each class meet? What will happen to the lunch system? Is there going to be a ‘free period’ or a kind of study hall?” These questions murmur throughout the halls as the word about a so-called new schedule gets out.

The current schedule has been in place for 20 years, and the administration has recently been looking for ways to help it better cater to the needs of the students and faculty. With the recent construction and new building, they thought it was a perfect time to try something different. Granted, formulating and organizing this new schedule structure has not been a simple task. Principal Raymond Pasi has put together a committee to assemble the new schedule, with co-chairs Suzanne Evans, Assistant Principal and Mark Rooks, Director of Student Services.

“We’ve had this current schedule for a long time and every now and then it’s just good to look at it and say, ‘Is there something we’d like to change?’. I like some block and some not block, because you have some disciplines that like block and you have other disciplines that like to meet everyday. I like the fact that we accomplish both with our current schedule. It doesn’t mean that we can’t look at it, though, and see what can be better. I asked a committee to meet to see if we like it just the way it is or if there’s anything we can do to add to it.  So we’ll have the pilot for a couple of weeks to see how it actually works, and then we can evaluate it,” explained Pasi.

Next year, the schedule will be the exact same as the current one, no questions asked. However, there will be a three week pilot between Thanksgiving and Winter break to try out the idea for a new schedule, and if it works well the schedule will hopefully be implemented for the 2015-2016 school year. After the pilot, a survey will be put out to all the faculty and students to ask for input on the new schedule. This input is incredibly important to the committee in making their decisions, because they want everyone to benefit from the changes. Evans helps to lead the committee for the schedule, and can offer valuable insight to the well-voiced committee and what is planned for next year.

“The committee that’s been doing this to begin with has a representative from each department, as well as Counseling and the Activities Department with Mr. Krulfeld, and it’s been shared by myself and Mr. Rooks, the director of counseling,” said Evans.

Some of the rumors are not far off from what might actually happen. A free period being added to the schedule is definitely part of the plan.

“For the pilot program, we’ve been looking at adding what’s called a ‘Patriot’s period,’ which is like the General’s period over at W-L (Washington-Lee High School), and attaching it to third period. So on certain days, third period would be 30 minutes longer. Students would have the option of staying in their third period class, to work on whatever they need to work on, going to the cafeteria to do small group projects, or reserving a space to work in the library. It’s meant to be a time for people to study or work on homework. It can also be a time to go back and work with teachers on work that they’ve missed or work they don’t understand. Or, it could be a time to just relax a little bit,” explained Evans.

As for the block classes, they are looking at making some big changes. Odd days would be 1st, 5th and 7th block periods and even days would be 2nd, 4th and 8th block periods. Third period would be included every day to allow for career center classes. Block would be four days a week, including a Patriot’s period. One day, possibly Monday, Wednesday or Friday, would be all seven periods, without a Patriot’s period. Lunch would still be broken up into three separate times, but all would fall under fifth period. Some students would go to part of their fifth period class, then to lunch then back to class, some would go to fifth period block then to lunch and some would go to lunch then to fifth period block.

The new lunches may seem like a drastic change. One could ask how such a schedule would be organized. Thankfully, the hardworking committee has figured that out as well.

“We’re talking about having it based on departments. So everybody that has social studies would go to say first lunch, everybody in math would go to second lunch, and that would rotate each year so that one department doesn’t always have block split,” added Evans.

The addition of a free period, or study hall, sounds quite similar to the General’s period over at W-L. For years now, students have been comparing schedules between schools, and W-L has always had the coveted free period. Evans explains how this, and other schools’ schedules, have impacted the creation of a new daily class plan.

“Certainly the idea of the Patriot’s period was influenced by W-L. There are a lot of schools in Fairfax that already have that type of period built in, and it’s becoming more and more common. W-L was the first one to do it, Wakefield started it this year and now we’re looking at how it would best work with our school’s needs here at Yorktown. We looked at both W-L and Wakefield’s schedules, as well as the careers center schedule. We looked at theirs in the beginning, and then we looked at schedules in other places in Virginia, other schools across the United States to see what other people have been doing and what would work the best here,” said Evans.

Addressing everyone’s needs can be a tough task to handle. The committee has put so much time and effort into coming up with a way to make the schedule even better for the school as a whole, and hopefully it will prove to be a success. Next year, the pilot will give a taste of what exciting changes the future of the schedule has to offer.

There have been various rumors floating around school about a possible new schedule for the 2014-2015 school year. Rumors have raised questions such as, “Will there be block classes everyday? How many times a week will each class meet? What will happen to the lunch system? Is there going to be a ‘free period’ or a kind of study hall?” These questions murmur throughout the halls as the word about a so-called new schedule gets out.

The current schedule has been in place for 20 years, and the administration has recently been looking for ways to help it better cater to the needs of the students and faculty. With the recent construction and new building, they thought it was a perfect time to try something different. Granted, formulating and organizing this new schedule structure has not been a simple task. Principal Raymond Pasi has put together a committee to assemble the new schedule, with co-chairs Suzanne Evans, Assistant Principal and Mark Rooks, Director of Student Services.

“We’ve had this current schedule for a long time and every now and then it’s just good to look at it and say, ‘Is there something we’d like to change?’. I like some block and some not block, because you have some disciplines that like block and you have other disciplines that like to meet everyday. I like the fact that we accomplish both with our current schedule. It doesn’t mean that we can’t look at it, though, and see what can be better. I asked a committee to meet to see if we like it just the way it is or if there’s anything we can do to add to it.  So we’ll have the pilot for a couple of weeks to see how it actually works, and then we can evaluate it,” explained Pasi.

Next year, the schedule will be the exact same as the current one, no questions asked. However, there will be a three week pilot between Thanksgiving and Winter break to try out the idea for a new schedule, and if it works well the schedule will hopefully be implemented for the 2015-2016 school year. After the pilot, a survey will be put out to all the faculty and students to ask for input on the new schedule. This input is incredibly important to the committee in making their decisions, because they want everyone to benefit from the changes. Evans helps to lead the committee for the schedule, and can offer valuable insight to the well-voiced committee and what is planned for next year.

“The committee that’s been doing this to begin with has a representative from each department, as well as Counseling and the Activities Department with Mr. Krulfeld, and it’s been shared by myself and Mr. Rooks, the director of counseling,” said Evans.

Some of the rumors are not far off from what might actually happen. A free period being added to the schedule is definitely part of the plan.

“For the pilot program, we’ve been looking at adding what’s called a ‘Patriot’s period,’ which is like the General’s period over at W-L (Washington-Lee High School), and attaching it to third period. So on certain days, third period would be 30 minutes longer. Students would have the option of staying in their third period class, to work on whatever they need to work on, going to the cafeteria to do small group projects, or reserving a space to work in the library. It’s meant to be a time for people to study or work on homework. It can also be a time to go back and work with teachers on work that they’ve missed or work they don’t understand. Or, it could be a time to just relax a little bit,” explained Evans.

As for the block classes, they are looking at making some big changes. Odd days would be 1st, 5th and 7th block periods and even days would be 2nd, 4th and 8th block periods. Third period would be included every day to allow for career center classes. Block would be four days a week, including a Patriot’s period. One day, possibly Monday, Wednesday or Friday, would be all seven periods, without a Patriot’s period. Lunch would still be broken up into three separate times, but all would fall under fifth period. Some students would go to part of their fifth period class, then to lunch then back to class, some would go to fifth period block then to lunch and some would go to lunch then to fifth period block.

The new lunches may seem like a drastic change. One could ask how such a schedule would be organized. Thankfully, the hardworking committee has figured that out as well.

“We’re talking about having it based on departments. So everybody that has social studies would go to say first lunch, everybody in math would go to second lunch, and that would rotate each year so that one department doesn’t always have block split,” added Evans.

The addition of a free period, or study hall, sounds quite similar to the General’s period over at W-L. For years now, students have been comparing schedules between schools, and W-L has always had the coveted free period. Evans explains how this, and other schools’ schedules, have impacted the creation of a new daily class plan.

“Certainly the idea of the Patriot’s period was influenced by W-L. There are a lot of schools in Fairfax that already have that type of period built in, and it’s becoming more and more common. W-L was the first one to do it, Wakefield started it this year and now we’re looking at how it would best work with our school’s needs here at Yorktown. We looked at both W-L and Wakefield’s schedules, as well as the careers center schedule. We looked at theirs in the beginning, and then we looked at schedules in other places in Virginia, other schools across the United States to see what other people have been doing and what would work the best here,” said Evans.

Addressing everyone’s needs can be a tough task to handle. The committee has put so much time and effort into coming up with a way to make the schedule even better for the school as a whole, and hopefully it will prove to be a success. Next year, the pilot will give a taste of what exciting changes the future of the schedule has to offer.

There have been various rumors floating around school about a possible new schedule for the 2014-2015 school year. Rumors have raised questions such as, “Will there be block classes everyday? How many times a week will each class meet? What will happen to the lunch system? Is there going to be a ‘free period’ or a kind of study hall?” These questions murmur throughout the halls as the word about a so-called new schedule gets out.

The current schedule has been in place for 20 years, and the administration has recently been looking for ways to help it better cater to the needs of the students and faculty. With the recent construction and new building, they thought it was a perfect time to try something different. Granted, formulating and organizing this new schedule structure has not been a simple task. Principal Raymond Pasi has put together a committee to assemble the new schedule, with co-chairs Suzanne Evans, Assistant Principal and Mark Rooks, Director of Student Services.

“We’ve had this current schedule for a long time and every now and then it’s just good to look at it and say, ‘Is there something we’d like to change?’. I like some block and some not block, because you have some disciplines that like block and you have other disciplines that like to meet everyday. I like the fact that we accomplish both with our current schedule. It doesn’t mean that we can’t look at it, though, and see what can be better. I asked a committee to meet to see if we like it just the way it is or if there’s anything we can do to add to it.  So we’ll have the pilot for a couple of weeks to see how it actually works, and then we can evaluate it,” explained Pasi.

Next year, the schedule will be the exact same as the current one, no questions asked. However, there will be a three week pilot between Thanksgiving and Winter break to try out the idea for a new schedule, and if it works well the schedule will hopefully be implemented for the 2015-2016 school year. After the pilot, a survey will be put out to all the faculty and students to ask for input on the new schedule. This input is incredibly important to the committee in making their decisions, because they want everyone to benefit from the changes. Evans helps to lead the committee for the schedule, and can offer valuable insight to the well-voiced committee and what is planned for next year.

“The committee that’s been doing this to begin with has a representative from each department, as well as Counseling and the Activities Department with Mr. Krulfeld, and it’s been shared by myself and Mr. Rooks, the director of counseling,” said Evans.

Some of the rumors are not far off from what might actually happen. A free period being added to the schedule is definitely part of the plan.

“For the pilot program, we’ve been looking at adding what’s called a ‘Patriot’s period,’ which is like the General’s period over at W-L (Washington-Lee High School), and attaching it to third period. So on certain days, third period would be 30 minutes longer. Students would have the option of staying in their third period class, to work on whatever they need to work on, going to the cafeteria to do small group projects, or reserving a space to work in the library. It’s meant to be a time for people to study or work on homework. It can also be a time to go back and work with teachers on work that they’ve missed or work they don’t understand. Or, it could be a time to just relax a little bit,” explained Evans.

As for the block classes, they are looking at making some big changes. Odd days would be 1st, 5th and 7th block periods and even days would be 2nd, 4th and 8th block periods. Third period would be included every day to allow for career center classes. Block would be four days a week, including a Patriot’s period. One day, possibly Monday, Wednesday or Friday, would be all seven periods, without a Patriot’s period. Lunch would still be broken up into three separate times, but all would fall under fifth period. Some students would go to part of their fifth period class, then to lunch then back to class, some would go to fifth period block then to lunch and some would go to lunch then to fifth period block.

The new lunches may seem like a drastic change. One could ask how such a schedule would be organized. Thankfully, the hardworking committee has figured that out as well.

“We’re talking about having it based on departments. So everybody that has social studies would go to say first lunch, everybody in math would go to second lunch, and that would rotate each year so that one department doesn’t always have block split,” added Evans.

The addition of a free period, or study hall, sounds quite similar to the General’s period over at W-L. For years now, students have been comparing schedules between schools, and W-L has always had the coveted free period. Evans explains how this, and other schools’ schedules, have impacted the creation of a new daily class plan.

“Certainly the idea of the Patriot’s period was influenced by W-L. There are a lot of schools in Fairfax that already have that type of period built in, and it’s becoming more and more common. W-L was the first one to do it, Wakefield started it this year and now we’re looking at how it would best work with our school’s needs here at Yorktown. We looked at both W-L and Wakefield’s schedules, as well as the careers center schedule. We looked at theirs in the beginning, and then we looked at schedules in other places in Virginia, other schools across the United States to see what other people have been doing and what would work the best here,” said Evans.

Addressing everyone’s needs can be a tough task to handle. The committee has put so much time and effort into coming up with a way to make the schedule even better for the school as a whole, and hopefully it will prove to be a success. Next year, the pilot will give a taste of what exciting changes the future of the schedule has to offer.

Featured Image by Alex Brandolino