As a senior, I am one of those students who has come to know and love our current block schedule. I’ve noticed that it works well for many students, and if it’s not broken…why fix it?

Although I am a fan of the block schedule, I still recognize the fact that it has it’s flaws. For example, if a student misses one day of class in a block schedule, he or she will have a lot of information to catch up on since teachers can cover so much ground in one class period. Especially if the class is one that requires a lot of note-taking, students will have a lot to catch up on.

Block scheduling also makes AP classes more difficult. AP tests are only offered in the spring, so if a student has any AP classes in the first half of the year, they will have a long period of time between the actual class and the test.

In a block schedule format, teachers are able to use a variety of teaching methods in just one class period. Whether a student learns by taking notes, by example, or by doing, a teacher is able take advantage of the extra time in a class period to cater their lesson plan to suit multiple learning styles.

Another positive aspect of the block schedule is that it lightens a student’s homework load on any given day. Since students here at Black River Falls High School have only four classes a day, they only have a maximum of four subjects worth of homework each night. However, that usually isn’t the case. In certain circumstances, students may only have one or two homework assignments a night.