As everyone has now discovered, this year there is new 6-day schedule in the Upper and Middle School. Basically, instead of having five columns on the schedule (one for each day of the week) there will be six: one for each of the six days in the “rotation”. The first full day of school, Monday September 13th, will be day 1, the next day will be day 2, and the Friday at the end of that week will be day 5. The following Monday will be day 6, and then the rotation will start over the next day, Tuesday, with day 1.

In the past, several different schedules — including a version of this current one — have been tried and tested, revised and rearranged. This arrangement allows for most classes to meet for a double block once or twice a week, and then not to meet the following day, giving students a much desired break from class and homework.  The only explicit exception to this system is math classes, which must meet every because the nature of the subject necessitates daily reinforcement (other teachers may elect to have their classes meet every day, but this is not required). Mr. Milliken affirmed that the new format also gives teachers more flexibility in scheduling their classes and that, of course, happy teachers are better teachers.

In addition to having an extra day in the schedule, there are now eight blocks instead of the seven we had last year. This set-up makes the day less crowded and provides students with more free periods. In order to create this extra block, classes were shortened to 40 minutes, lunch was condensed from 45 to 30 minutes, and an extra 10 minutes were added on at the end of the day, which is now over at 3:00pm instead of at 2:50pm.

Since The Academies is a college-prep school, this schedule also more closely resembles a college environment in which classes meet only a few times a week but for longer periods. The Middle School will also run on a 6-day rotation, which the administration hopes will be become a permanent facet in 5th-12th grade.