For the 2021-22 school year, ETHS will implement block scheduling and will make several significant adjustments that will dramatically reshape the school that many people are familiar with. The biggest change would be transitioning to the “Block Schedule.” 

“We were looking at how we could make changes to the school based on the experiences that we had during the pandemic. And so the block schedule had been something that was talked about for years,” Assistant Principal of Curriculum and Instruction Scott Bramley stated.

Despite the fact that block scheduling has been utilized in enhanced e-learning for a long time, it has never been implemented in a face-to-face classroom. The hybrid approach is intended to slow down the pace of the school day, offering students a more hands-on learning process and more time for social-emotional learning.

This new system will extend all periods to 85 minutes while making passing periods 10 minutes. This change was made in the name of efficiency and student well-being. 

Under the new schedule, school will start at 8:30 AM. On “Wildkit Mondays,” classes will last 33 minutes, with the day ending at 2:07 PM. The rest of the week works similarly to the enhanced e-learning students experienced via e-learning. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, students will attend blocks 1, 3, 5, and 7, and on Wednesdays and Fridays, students will attend blocks 2, 4, 6, and 8. The day includes 10 minute passing periods, with the day ending at 3:30 PM.

The 10-minute passing periods are one example of how the adjustments are aimed at improving student life. Now students will have 10 minutes during the passing periods. The halls will be calmer and less hectic. 

Alright, take a minute, before you go to your next class, get some water, you know, stretch, whatever it’s like, I think that it’s important…” Principal and Assistant Superintendent Marcus Campbell explained. “It was just such a busy, crazy day. And now we’re gonna slow the day down.”

The 2021-22 block schedule will also affect detentions and tardies. With 10 minutes to go from class to class, students will have much more time to do what they need to do and have enough time to make it to class. 

“I think all the changes are designed to make sure that we’re humanizing the experience for students,” Bramley said.“Not everyone likes every change. … But we really don’t know until we actually start doing it.”