Campus experiences first taste of new block schedule format (part 1 of 3) (with video)

Wednesday morning, Coppell High School rang a new bell to begin the modified block schedule pilot, which will run through the end of the school week. The pilot is a trial run for the blocked schedule which will be implemented at CHS beginning in the 2017-2018 school year.

Administration hopes the pilot allows students and faculty to get a feel for next year, while helping identify problems with the format.

“Adults and students need to go through this experience so that we better know what to work on to make it as smooth a transition when we really go to this next year,” Principal Mike Jasso said.

Teachers prepared for the pilot on Tuesday, a staff planning day, where they learned about brain breaks, movement in education and how to involve students through verbal group work. These sessions helped teachers keep students engaged and productive in the almost 90 minute classes.

“I’ve seen teachers be a lot more intentional about getting students moving,” assistant principal Melissa Arnold said.

Throughout the day, teachers reminded students to take advantage of passing periods. The 12-minute long passing periods gave students plenty of time to get to class and use the restroom to prevent students from missing valuable instruction time.
“Change is a little bit uncomfortable, so let’s all be open minded, have a positive attitude, and be flexible,” Jasso said. “Relax and enjoy the less hectic pace.”

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