As LBHS prepares for the upcoming school year, they have crafted a new schedule that will include eight periods rather than six. As I glanced over the new schedule and listened to the counselors speak about how it will work, I couldn’t help but feel excited for the year to come. 

While creating this upcoming schedule, the bell schedule committee considered how they could increase student opportunities. With this new schedule, students have more availability to take classes that interest them. Since there will be eight periods, students can take their favorite elective, as well as a language class that is required to graduate. I struggled with this under the prior schedule, but now I don’t have to worry about sacrificing a fun elective to take a language.

This new schedule will also include a roaming tutorial. Essentially, this means that students will have the option to go to any one of their classes for their tutorial period. This gives students a lot more freedom and can increase their productivity. Students can figure out what class they may lack or need the most help in and go straight to that class. Teachers can also assign a student to their tutorial if necessary. 

The main concern with this new tutorial idea is that students may misuse it. If students have the option to go to any tutorial of their choosing, there could easily be a group of friends who collectively decide to go to one class. This can cause productivity issues and prevent students from getting help with the classes they are lacking. 

There are downsides to consider when navigating this new schedule. Things like shorter class periods and free tutorials are both the main concerns right now. Our faculty is keeping all this in mind and is going to be running a beta for the tutorial later this year. 

If every student uses this schedule to their advantage, it could be a fantastic year filled with classes of students’ interest. 

Read a contrasting opinion here:

Concerns arise around new 8-period day