On March 6th, Upper School Head Mr. Mark Fifer sent a school-wide email confirming a schedule change for the upcoming school year. Though this change may seem sudden, it has been years in the making.
In 2021, Haverford went from a block schedule to our current schedule.
“In 2021, which was the first full year coming back from COVID, we had a schedule that was a 3-by-3 block schedule,” Mr. Fifer said. “Students only had three classes at a time, and they met every day for a quarter of a year.”
This schedule change is referred to as a comprehensive schedule review.
“A comprehensive schedule review involves intentional peer-school benchmarking, comprehensive stakeholder surveys, inclusive of students, families, and faculty,” Mr. Fifer said. “It’s full scope, meaning it’s open to structural changes.”
This schedule change is a smaller version of a comprehensive schedule review, a “limited schedule review.” Instead of involving peer schools and comprehensive stakeholder surveys, the schedule change was made in-house, starting with the department heads and ending with the teachers.
This change has been brewing for years now.
“There were at least three or four meetings, as well as chatting over the years, about whether or not the schedule is working,” English Department Chair Ms. Taylor Smith-Kan said.
Not only have the department heads considered the change.
“Over the course of the last couple of years, we’ve gotten feedback from faculty that four out of every seven days to meet with the class might not be enough,” Mr. Fifer said.
Earlier this year, Mr. Fifer formally briefed the department heads to begin this limited review. They established three specific areas to examine.
“We looked at three different dimensions of our schedule,” Mr. Fifer said. “Specifically, what we were looking at is: the frequency of class meetings, having classes four out of every seven school days, the duration of the classes, 75-minute periods, how that felt related to their ability to meet learning goals, and the positioning of an ASB.”
Over time, Mr. Fifer decided to poll faculty and see what they thought of the current schedule: “We engaged faculty in a series of conversations about what their learning goals were and how the schedule was helping them to accomplish those learning goals.”
Mr. Fifer also sent out a survey to teachers as a way to express their feelings on the current schedule.
“It was an opportunity for teachers to explain what they thought was good, what they thought was bad,” Ms. Smith-Kan said.
The survey results confirmed what many of the faculty had already been articulating about the current schedule, and the school moved forward with addressing these three dimensions in the schedule.
The first shift from this year addresses class frequency, as classes will meet five times per seven-day cycle instead of the usual four.
“Many faculty felt the four-meeting cycle created gaps in learning,” Mr. Fifer said. “Having an additional class meeting in the seven-day rotating schedule made sense.”
This desire was echoed by other teachers.
“Meeting classes more frequently would help students stay connected to what they are learning and avoid long gaps between classes that sometimes happen because of holidays, sports dismissals, or other events,” Spanish Teacher Ms. Susana Lambour said.
Another shift is the 60-minute class periods.
“Many faculty members felt that the natural inflection point to sustain student attention is 60 minutes,” Mr. Fifer said. “75-minute classes for many disciplines can feel too long, and students can lose focus over the course of a 75-minute period.”
“This will alleviate a little bit of that stress because if a kid misses 20 minutes as opposed to an hour of class, that’ll be better.” – Ms. Taylor Smith-Kan
Finally, the most controversial shift for students is moving ASB from the beginning of the day to the end of the day.
“There was a good bit of feedback about where ASB could be placed best to maximize instructional time, where kids are most focused and most attuned,” Mr. Fifer said.
“We wanted kids to be in class during that prime-real estate window,” Ms. Smith-Kan added. “The early dismissals for sports are killing us. This will alleviate a little bit of that stress because if a kid misses 20 minutes as opposed to an hour of class, that’ll be better.”
Though this plan is set in motion for next year, the administration needs to consider a few more questions before the school can fully implement the new schedule.
“We’re still working on the optimal rotation of those classes, and that’s why you haven’t seen a published schedule yet,” Mr. Fifer said.
Another decision surrounds Wednesday’s 9 a.m. start. The problem Mr. Fifer is running into is how he is going to put a break in between the second and third block since there is no community time on Wednesdays. Mr. Fifer says, “We have a 9 o’clock start and 60-minute periods on Wednesday—we’re committed to finding a way where students can have a break on Wednesdays after the second block.”
Additionally, a common concern among students is an increase in homework with an increase in class time. Mr. Fifer is trying to work through this student uncertainty with the faculty, saying, “That is something the faculty are going to think very carefully about. What are the parameters around homework expectations that might have to shift?”
Ms. Smith Kan said, “It’s going to mean there’s more homework every night just because there’s more classes the next day, but teachers are going to calibrate that, so it’s a little bit less homework. It’s going to be more frequent check-ins, but less intense.”
Before the next year begins, Mr. Fifer plans to give students and teachers a chance to experience this schedule change. According to Mr. Fifer, the high school is blocking out an entire rotation to showcase the new schedule before finals.
“We’ll do it in May. We’ll actually run a full cycle so students can experience how it feels before next year begins.”