High School Classes to Meet More Often

High school classes will meet more often for shorter periods next year.

Meeting for 68 minutes, as opposed to the current 94 minutes, will lead to more instruction time and students retaining more knowledge, said high school .

Millington told School Committee members on Wednesday that brain research indicates the 68-minute class periods are better suited for foreign language and math classes, and less so for art and science classes.

Right now, the students are on a five-day rotation attending seven class periods. Each class meets three times per rotation, for 50 minutes, 94 minutes and 94 minutes.

The high school adopted the block scheduling about four years ago, Millington said. In about that same time frame test scores have stagnated or slipped, he said.

Millington said that meeting for longer periods and less often can result in students getting no instruction in a particular class over a series of days, especially if school is cancelled.

This hiatus from a subject can be considerable even when school is in session. If a teacher is out sick, a student could end up attending two 94-minute study halls in a given day, he said.

Under the new schedule, students will meet more frequently.

Students will receive 18 hours more instruction and teachers will hold 22 more classes over the school year.

“You are going to learn more in four one-hour classes than in one four-hour class,” he said.

While there are no four-hour classes under the current block scheduling, the new schedule will help students succeed in their first year of college, Millington said.

This is what research indicates, he said.

A lot of Swampscott High school students attend college — 95 percent of them, he said.

He estimated that 2 or 3 percent of the graduates enter the military. 

The principal said that high school teachers approved the new schedule.

Jon Flanagan, president of the Swampscott teachers' union, said in an interview that the committee that assembled scheduling options put a lot of work into it and  sought input from teachers and administrators.

"In the end, the faculty voted approximately 2-1 in favor of the new schedule," he said.

Meanwhile, students are concerned that the schedule might lead to more homework.

William Travascio, the student representative to the School Committee, said class times under the new schedule appear to be the right length, neither too long nor too short.