A later start time? An “access” period? Adding brunch to the day?
These are among the ideas the Foothill High community is weighing as school officials explore whether to formally propose changes to the bell schedule next school year.
The concept of a new bell schedule was first approached in the spring, around the same time the Pleasanton school board approved Amador Valley High’s proposal to pilot an access period underway this school year.
The 40-minute class period every Wednesday and Thursday serves as advisory time for Amador students to connect with teachers, work on assignments, seek help from counselors or pursue other wellness-related activities. The addition to the schedule was meant to target student stress and address other needs, school staff said upon bringing their proposal to the board last winter.
To implement the access period, Wednesdays and Thursdays were shifted from traditional school days with all six regular periods to a modified block schedule where students have the access period and one half of their classes. Most students now also have a “late start” on Wednesdays and Thursdays, with classes beginning at 8:50 a.m. and ending at 3:01 p.m.
Seeing the changes being made across town at Amador, Foothill officials began exploring the possibility of their own bell schedule change with an initial meeting last April, according to principal Sebastian Bull.
But further research was put on hold when Foothill’s principal at the time, Jason Krolikowski, was appointed the new head of San Ramon Valley High School in Danville. Bull and other school officials reapproached the matter in the fall.
“We picked it back up again this fall just to explore and see the possibility and what the interest level may be and the need for it at the school,” Bull said. “From our ‘Healthy Kids’ survey done every two years, there’s an indication that there is a lot of student stress — it comes up quite a bit.”
In October, the school set up a committee comprised of Foothill teachers, staff and parents to help with the exploration. In November and December, the committee visited high schools that have adopted new bell schedules in recent years — Amador, San Ramon Valley and Dougherty Valley — to learn more about changes that were implemented and how things have worked out.
Following those visits, the committee’s research to date was presented to staff and parents for initial feedback.
At this juncture, Foothill does not have a formal proposal for the 2018-19 bell schedule, Bull said. The school is planning to survey parents, students and staff about a possible modification after classes resume from winter break on Tuesday.
The surveys will ask for participants’ thoughts on concepts like a modified block schedule, access period, a late start and brunch — all of which are a part of Amador’s current bell schedule.
Administrators and the schedule committee plan to examine the survey results at the end of the month and go from there, Bull said.
“There’s some definite interest and also some valid questions or concerns about what the structure would be,” Bull said when asked about initial feedback regarding a potential change. “Most people are intrigued at this idea of an access period or support period, but the logistics of it is the part we’d have to work through.”
At Amador, school officials report that response to the new bell schedule this year has been largely positive, though some concerns remain.
Asked in a survey whether the access period has reduced the level of academic stress for their child, 86.7% of Amador parents responded yes, according to results provided by PUSD spokesman Patrick Gannon. In the same survey, 88.8% of parents said they would currently support continuing the access period beyond this school year.
The survey was taken by 241 parents.
A fall survey of 74 Amador teachers found that 47 fully support continuing the access bell schedule, 11 still had questions regarding the schedule and 16 did not support continuing it as is. Concerns included implementing better structure for students during the access period and a preference to end the school day earlier than 3:11 p.m. on traditional days.
Amador is still compiling the results of a student survey on the subject, Gannon said.
Asked for his thoughts on how the access bell schedule is going so far, Amador principal Mike Williams said he is “very encouraged by the positive response our Amador community has had.”
“Students and parents have been able to connect further with teachers and use the adjusted schedule to seek out additional support and catch up on academics,” Williams said in a statement. “We look forward to reflecting on our pilot semester with staff in January to determine the best next steps for Amador Valley.”
Should Foothill change its bell schedule next school year, the move will need to get the approval of the school board. Bull said the school has been told it would need to bring a proposal to the board by March for possible implementation in 2018-19.
If the school hasn’t settled on a proposal by that point, “we’d wait and make sure it’s done properly,” Bull said.
“The biggest thing I’ve told people is I don’t want to do it just to do it; we want to make sure we have a schedule that’s best for everybody,” he said.
