This spring semester, Concord Academy implemented a new schedule for the penultimate week of school. Unlike past years, when minor-assessments week followed relatively the same schedule as a typical week at CA, this year’s schedule was significantly different. While the changes to the schedule allowed for more time when students could see the work done by their classmates in arts classes on campus, I would have rather have had more time to meet with my major classes before finals week.
As a result of this new schedule, major classes only met twice for a total of 105 minutes (1.75 hours), much less than the normal three hours per week. This decrease in class time was replaced with presentation blocks, where students showcased their work in arts and computer science classes at a time when the whole community was available. On Thursday, all classes met for 25 minutes, and the afternoon (from 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.) was a Reading Afternoon during which students studied in a designated work space and teachers held office hours to give students more opportunities to ask questions before the final exam.
I appreciated that the whole community was available to attend student showcases during performance blocks, as opposed to earlier years when only those available during the class block were able to attend. However, I felt as though the end of the year was a bit rushed for major classes. I am sure part of this feeling has to do with the fact that, due to Memorial Day occurring when school was still in session, major assessments began on the Friday of the penultimate week of school, instead of the following Monday as they typically do. Nevertheless, I think that some of the time used for the Reading Afternoon or presentation blocks could have been utilized for more class time.
If CA were to utilize a schedule similar to this one in the future, I would suggest lengthening class blocks on Thursday and incorporating an abbreviated Reading Afternoon later in the day. While one of the main purposes of the Reading Afternoon was to give students an extra opportunity to meet with their teachers, I find that the classroom setting is more conducive to learning, since I can work through problems not only with my teacher, but also with my classmates. In contrast to regular class sessions, the Reading Afternoon provides students with time to study for whatever exams are going to be most difficult for them. While I think this flexibility can be helpful, I do not think the Reading Afternoon needed to be as long as it was. Instead, lengthening class times and keeping a shortened version of the Reading Afternoon would allow students to get the best of both worlds.