Wilson “hybrid” schedule next year?

[Anonymous]

From this week’s Wilson newsletter. Not exactly sure how this will work.

Last week, DCPS Central Office released guidance on class scheduling for the upcoming school year. Schools will be allowed scheduling flexibility in SY22-23. The exact class schedule format for Wilson will be determined in accordance with Central guidelines in the coming weeks, but you can expect a hybrid model where AP (Advanced Placement) classes will be taught on the full-year schedule and core classes will be offered on the 4x4 schedule. More updates to come as we work out the scheduling logistics!

So AP classes will be year long and everything else will be 4x4? This seems to create tremendous scheduling complexity while addressing only a sliver of the issues with 4x4, no?

[Anonymous]

What a mess.

[Anonymous]

They should have language and math be year round also regardless of AP - I think these are the hardest classes to have an 8 month gap.

[Anonymous]

Why don’t they acknowledge 4x4 has other weaknesses…

[Anonymous]

Irvine High School (5 miles from UC Irvine) has a schedule like this. It’s about the same size as Wilson and also serves an extremely diverse population. It seems to make it work by offering not only APs, but also all lab science and performing arts, and upper level languages, on the year-long, A/B schedule, and by offering a lot of other electives, PE, fine arts, etc., on a semester long A/B schedule. They have a really detailed explainer on their web site.

https://irvinehigh.iusd.org/events/block-scheduling

It seems like they’ve been doing it a long time. Someone at Wilson should probably become best friends with whoever does scheduling for IHS.

[Anonymous]

Some school in California. Completely random.

[Anonymous]

Seriously? Now there is going to be a 4 x 4 schedule incorporated into a non 4 x 4 schedule for AP courses? So kids taking AP and non AP courses schedule will be what?

Even worst, central office thinks the chaos that is Wilson is capable of doing above competently?

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know if DCPS has publicly released what these
"guidelines" actually are? That seems to be critical information...

[Anonymous]

I understand the school wanting to split the baby on this one and I believe this type of hybrid block scheduling is used at more schools thank just Irvine. I am concerned that this will make it more difficult to schedule the courses the students want to take - which is already challenging because the administration is not flexible at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some school in California. Completely random.

It's actually a lot of schools doing this all over. I am seeing it mostly at privates.

I don't like it because this isn't what I did at school but that doesn't mean its bad. It probably is best because we are teaching these kids to be adults and adults operate more this way.

[Anonymous]

Hopefully that will be better than this year. But what about English, math and foreign languages?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some school in California. Completely random.

It's actually a lot of schools doing this all over. I am seeing it mostly at privates.

I don't like it because this isn't what I did at school but that doesn't mean its bad. It probably is best because we are teaching these kids to be adults and adults operate more this way.

There are public in AZ that do block scheduling too. It’s very desirable for kids with LD or other issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hopefully that will be better than this year. But what about English, math and foreign languages?

What I take from Mr. Bargeman’s message is that any classes that aren’t AP will be 4x4. So, example, AP English Language and AP English Literature will be full-year; all other English classes will be 4x4. AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, and AP Stats will be full year; all other math classes will be 4x4. Etc.

I hope I’m misreading/misunderstanding. But I think that’s what he’s saying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some school in California. Completely random.

It's actually a lot of schools doing this all over. I am seeing it mostly at privates.

I don't like it because this isn't what I did at school but that doesn't mean its bad. It probably is best because we are teaching these kids to be adults and adults operate more this way.

There are public in AZ that do block scheduling too. It’s very desirable for kids with LD or other issues.

The complaints here aren’t about block scheduling, which Wilson has used for years (A/B day full-year until the last couple of years, when they switched to 4x4 because of the pandemic). The complaints are about a hybrid of full-year and 4x4 courses, which seems needlessly confusing and doesn’t address the many concerns people have about the 4x4 schedule.

[Anonymous]

Right...the complaint isn't so much about "block"--which can mean four classes per day in an A/B schedule like Wilson used to have but rather the specific form of the block where most (if not all) classes are only one semester so kids go long periods of time without math/languages and courses are accelerated so when kids get behind they can't catch up easily.
Based on the language of the email, it does sound like most classes will remain semester based but APs will go back to being year long.

The question is what "guidelines" DCPS has put in place and how much flexibility Wilson has....that is a big unanswered question that needs to be explained to parents before any schedule is decided on. If Wilson has the flexibility to go back to the prior A/B schedule where almost all classes were year long and Bargeman has opted not to do that, THAT is unacceptable. If, however, DCPS has said that high schools have "flexibility" but have put so many guidelines in place that there really isn't any flexibility, that's another story.

It seems like the next step is to understand what these guidelines are from DCPS....