The bell schedule for the upcoming 2022-23 school year will likely feature minor adjustments to the current bell schedule, including the length of passing periods, the order of block days and the placement and length of FlexTime. The San Mateo Union High School District Bell Schedule Committee is currently discussing the exact changes.
The Bell Schedule Committee was formed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic with the goal of creating a unified district schedule during distance learning and facilitating the transition back to hybrid and in-person learning. Next year, the SMUHSD schools will continue to run on a unified schedule.
“There’s a few reasons that we’ve gone in this direction,” said Assistant Superintendent Dr. Julia Kempkey. “[It’s easier for] teachers that work across the District at two sites. [A unified schedule] is also helpful for dual enrollment students [because college] classes can be scheduled in a way [that is] more accessible to them.”
As the impact of the pandemic recedes into the background, the decision to maintain a unified schedule has been met with mixed opinions.
“Never in the history of this district has there been some uniform schedule across the District,” said Aragon Committee Representative and English teacher Genevieve Thurtle. “Each site has always had the freedom to determine their own bell schedule based on the needs of their students. One major concern at Aragon is that we actually had … [a schedule] that we felt really suited the needs of our students and worked well with the different content areas.”
“One major concern at Aragon is that we actually had … [a schedule] that we felt really suited the needs of our students and worked well with the different content areas”
Physics teacher Steve Ratto shared Thurtle’s view.
“We have had the feeling of being our own independent school for a while,” Ratto said. “When you lose that, it feels personal. I think some of the teachers feel that way. We spent a lot of time and effort to make [the schedule] for what [our school] was.”
The results of the recent panorama survey in the District showed that 73% of respondents liked the current four-day block schedule periods, 91% preferred 10-minute passing periods and 79% of people supported period ending times at :00 or :05 of the hour, as opposed to :03 or :47. Eighty-two percent agreed that there should be consistency in passing period length across the week.
“The [current] schedule helps me learn effectively,” said freshman Jonathan Wong. “[Each period’s long duration] guarantees that [students] learn the whole lesson and have time for review or [to] begin the basics of the next lesson. I find myself able to retain more information about the subject because the lesson isn’t cut up into multiple segments.”
One of the Bell Schedule Committee’s biggest challenges is finding a schedule that satisfies everyone.
“We’re doing the best we can to make as many people feel like it’s a schedule that will work for them”
“This is always a challenging process,” Kempkey said. “There’s usually some people that are unhappy and some that like it. We’re doing the best we can to make as many people feel like it’s a schedule that will work for them.”
While the bell schedule hasn’t been finalized yet, there are several changes in discussion. For example, it is possible that the order of odd and even days will be switched, so longer odd days won’t fall on Fridays.
“We’ve seen some of the feedback saying that we should flip [the block days] because it’s hard to do that longer [odd block day] for staff and students on a Friday,” Kempkey said.
Passing periods may also be adjusted to the same length every day to avoid unnecessary complications. The position and span of FlexTime in the day is also being discussed.
“The difference between the even days’ and odd days’ ending time is pretty big, and it could throw off extracurricular scheduling if the dismissal time is always inconvenient,” Wong said. “Maybe increasing the amount of FlexTime that we have could help bring the dismissal times closer together.”
After the Committee decides on a schedule, it will present it to the Board for approval. It is likely that the proposed schedule will be brought up in board meetings on April 21 and May 7, possibly yielding a final decision.
