What would make Aledo High School a more enjoyable and effective school environment? While students appreciate that Aledo provides a safe and healthy place to learn with capable educators, students can also agree that the school has a need for change.

Most students complain about an overload of homework, while many teachers complain about lacking adequate time to teach well. Science classes are unable to finish labs in one 50-minute time span, and they often take multiple days to complete. Students are encouraged to participate in extra-curricular activities such as sports or spirit groups, but the long practices after school combined with homework in up to seven classes keep them from getting to bed at a reasonable time. Teenagers are recommended to have nine to ten hours of sleep each night, but this overload of commitments keeps many students from achieving that.

One solution to these problems is the implementation of a block schedule. The school day would be split into four or five class periods, and the week into “A” days and “B” days. Classes would be longer, but students would attend fewer classes per day. This would allow more time for work at school and home, and more classes could be attended, helping students achieve the necessary credits faster. Students would spend less time travelling between classes, and teachers would spend less time taking attendance and handing out papers, which allows for a day with fewer interruptions and consequently more learning.

Critics of block scheduling claim that students are unable to remain focused for the longer period of time; however, there are already options provided by the school for those who are unable to focus for long periods of time. Teachers would break up the class period with different activities, not just 90-minute lectures or notes.

While this program is not right for every school, it has worked well in the past for Aledo, and for many other schools in the area who currently use block scheduling, including Keller High School, Prosper High School, and more. Freshman Elise Poling agrees that this would be a beneficial change. “That would be cool,” Poling said “I would say yes to that.” Freshman Brooke Harkins agreed that a block schedule would help students and teachers. “You would be able to utilize your class time and have two days to do homework,” Harkins said.

Block scheduling was at one time utilized by AHS, but the district reverted back to a 7-period day to best use their financial resources. It’s time the district revisited this idea to improve the academic life of AHS students.