Dupage Policy Journal

At its April 17 meeting, the Community High School District 99 Board of Education heard a presentation from director of student experiences Ryan Doherty on the possibility of a block schedule in the high school.

The district had recently sent out a survey to teachers, students, and parents, to hear their thoughts about the proposed change, and while Doherty did not share the definitive results of the survey as it had closed just 48 hours before the meeting, he did talk about what questions were on the survey and how their answers would help them determine how to move forward with the schedule for next year.

“For families that feel that there needs to be more structure, just a reminder for the community that we're talking about for students who are struggling in school and maybe they're not using that in-service time as effectively as we had hoped,” Doherty said. “That we’re going to start talking about intervention programs and entrance and exit criteria for students who need a little bit more structure during that time.”

The district made a change this past year, creating block days that gave students a 78-minute resource block each week, which can provide anything from study hall time to job and military visitations and opportunities, college explorations, spirit week activities, school safety presentations, and much more. They also had an ACCESS block, which allowed students and teachers to meet to work on projects, missed tests, or get additional help. The entire goal of changing the schedule is to increase student autonomy and time-management skills, prepare them for college and the workforce, and to provide great opportunities for students to get the instruction, emotional, and vocational support they need, while decreasing the stress of trying to plan it themselves.

The proposed schedule for next year has normal 8-period days on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, with periods 1, 3, 5, and 7 on Wednesday along with an ACCESS period, and the same structure on Thursday with periods 2, 4, 6, and 8. 

This is another schedule attempt from the school, who moved its initial late start to resource time at the end of the day to discern which would be better for students. That time is taken out in the 2023-24 proposed schedule, allowing the school to have a more balanced mixture of structure and freedom for its students. 

This can be changed based on the results of the survey, and the board will vote on a final schedule likely sometime this summer.

The board uploaded a livestream of its public meeting to the district’s YouTube channel.

The board also discussed its 2022 Tax Levy.

The board will meet again at 6:30 p.m. on May 15 at the district’s Administrative Service Center on 6301 Springside Ave.