When faculty come directly to the students regarding schedule anxiety, worried minds ease.
Earlier this year, Malvern Prep’s administration threw a curveball to their student body. Next year, Malvern will be deviating from its typical 6 day-8 period school day, to a modified block schedule which consists of an 8-day rotation, a 6-block school day and a 60 minute “community time” block.
After this announcement was made public, there was some student uproar. Atopmany other changes enacted this school year, the modified schedule only exacerbated already frustrated students. “Why change things now…Obviously the original type of schedule has worked for decades now…We like it how it is,” were typical of student comments. But is a group of teenagers making too brash a decision about how they feel about this schedule?
As expected, many questions arose from the students on what the schedule will look like, how it works, and whose idea it was. So Malvern faculty came directly to the students. On April 8 and 10, during lunch periods, a group of about 6 faculty members sat at a table in Stewart Hall to allow any student to ask any question they might have, and provide answers to the best of their ability.
The communication was key. Many students felt like this decision was made without any input from students and that this was just another way the school was able to grasp them tighter. When the teachers took time out of their day to allow any student to approach them with any questions, there wasn’t room to feel left in the dark anymore. The chance to receive clarification on all the change was granted. From word around Stewart and the rest of campus, students seemed much more at ease with the whole idea after receiving clarification from their own teachers… and after realizing they basically have a 60 minute open period after 1st period every day.
The administration team, along with many of the faculty, believes this new modified schedule will benefit the Malvern Prep community as a whole. Mr. Jim Stinger said, “The schedule we have now, was used in the fifties. The style of education has changed, and we need to adjust.”
Malvern’s current schedule does not allot time in between classes for travel – a bonus for those students who are not always in a rush to get to their classes. The travel time comes out of the 45 minutes given for the next period, so class time is lost on a daily basis. The new schedule has almost every class feeding into a non-class on most days of the cycle, so less class time will be missed – good news for eager learners.
Classes also do not meet every day of the 8-day cycle in next year’s schedule. This change will grant the students the opportunity to build a sense of responsibility when it comes to knowing how to organize their time to complete their assignments on time and study – a skill very important for college.
All in all, the schedule itself won’t be anything harder than adjusting to the change. So many have been using the original for years now that it might be difficult for some to adjust to the new design, but Malvern Prep’s students won’t let that get in the way of their amazing Malvern experience. This new design of class times will leave room for growth both in studies and co-curriculars, and will leave the student body of Malvern Prep extremely prepared to take on the world once their Malvern days come to an end.
[button link=”https://lantern.news/2014/03/28/a-taste-of-next-years-academic-changes-ahead-in-may/” newwindow=”yes”] Learn more about the new schedule.[/button]
