Proposed Bell Schedule Change for 2014-2015 Year

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I have asked my staff to consider a proposed bell schedule change that would impact students in all four grades beginning with the 2014-2015 school year. I know it may seem odd to be thinking of next year when we have just started this year, but believe it or not the time is just right for this discussion. New bell schedules have potential staffing, curriculum, and budgetary implications that have to be worked out in the fall.

The search for a better bell schedule is not a new project at Sanborn. Actually, in the eight years I have worked for the school we have always talked about the need to look at how we structure time for students. We were convinced that our schedule wasn't perfect, but our biggest problem was that until recently, we really didn't know what we needed to change in order to make it better for students.
In the 2009-2010 school year I was directed by the School Board to work with a committee of teachers to address this issue. We researched the high school schedules models available, compared them to our current schedule, and determined what a perfect bell schedule would have to look like for Sanborn. Our work was presented to the School Board in March of 2010. Since then, we piloted parts of the new schedule in grades 9 and 10.

The following video explains where our schedule has been, where it is now, and what we are proposing for the future. I hope you will find it informational.


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