Three years ago, King’s Way Christian School decided to change the 8 Period schedule to the Block schedule that we follow now. Our school decided to make the switch to limit exposure in the middle of Covid-19. Administration thought that going to 4 classes a day would decrease the spread, and they implemented it along with many other precautions against spreading the virus. Jack Somarakis, a senior this year who was here through the switch from freshman year to sophomore year, thinks that there are pros and cons to both schedules. 

According to Somarakis, the Block schedule is good because you get more time to do homework in class and he is more productive so he can focus on things after school. However, when we were on an 8 Period schedule you would get homework everyday for every class, which increased the daily work load. Mrs. Bristowe, the Biology and Anatomy teacher, thinks that the positive sides to the Block schedule are getting to have more time to do labs, whereas when we had an 8 Period schedule she would have to rush her lessons and try to get through the labs as fast as possible. Even though there are a lot of good things about the block schedule there are also a lot of negative things as well. 

Mrs. Bristowe needs time to set up for her day during her prep period and that happened every day when we were on the 8 Period schedule, but when we switched and started only having a full set of classes every other day she now isn’t able to plan every day and that is hard for her. Another thing that has complicated her day is not seeing all of her students every day. A lot of times she will have a student one day and she won’t have them the next day so it is hard to communicate with them. Somarakis says that his least favorite part of having the Block schedule is that he has to sit through very long classes. Sometimes it is nice to be able to get work done but when you’re sitting in the back of a class for eighty minutes it is hard to pay attention. He says that, “After sitting in a class for a long time I can lose interest and it becomes monotonous.”  

When Somarakis was asked if he would go back he said, “It is simple. There are just more things going for an 8 Period schedule than the Block schedule. I would definitely go back to eight periods. I honestly prefer it more, it keeps me engaged and helps me focus better in class.” Going back to eight periods would be a nice change of scenery for a lot of us. Mondays feel like you’re moving a lot more and it gives you more breaks in between when you are learning. 

While these the opinions of this student and teacher have provided a balance of pros and cons regarding the two schedule options, there is still plenty to investigate before coming to a conclusion on the superior schedule. So, while it may not be clear which schedule best serves the students and staff at King’s Way, there does seem to be enough questions to warrant further discussion.