ACPS officials: Yearlong block schedule gives more class time

As part of the recently approved 2021-22 school year plan, Amherst County High School and the county’s two middle schools will have a block schedule format that school officials said will allow more time for hands-on projects and meaningful engagement. The 90-minute class time will be structured on an A/B yearlong rotation and not a semester rotation, according to the plan the Amherst County School Board approved at its June meeting. Under the format, secondary students will have four “A” blocks Mondays and Thursdays, four “B” blocks Tuesdays and Fridays and all blocks together on Wednesdays. The format allows teachers to better support students in recovering foundational skills that may have been either missed or not fully mastered because of the unusual conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic, a description of the measure in the plan states. The move also allows the overall secondary curriculum to not be compressed, puts Standard of Learning testing and Advanced Placement testing at the end of the year and grows programs such as AP, career and technical education, internships and dual enrollment, the plan’s language states. “We’re trying to have more hands-on projects, deeper learning. It gives more time,” Amherst County Public Schools Superintendent Rob Arnold said of the block schedule format at the June meeting. “When you have 45 to 50 minute classes, it really becomes compressed.” The scheduling also is in line with division administrators’ push for innovation in the classroom and advancing an instructional model that focuses on collaboration, communication, critical and creative thinking and citizenship in a more engaging away, according to Arnold. ACHS Principal Derrick Brown said the block schedule taking effect in the 2021-22 school year helps teachers dive into lessons with more time and continuity. “There are opportunities for yearlong classes that are harder to do on the semester block [schedule],” Brown told the board at its most recent meeting. Brown said the additional face time teachers will have with students during longer classes is beneficial following a year where many weren’t physically in school because they opted to learn at home through the Amherst Remote Academy. “I think that’s going to be definitely needed as we have 114 students coming into the high school as 10th graders who have never been in our building because they were in ARA,” Brown said. “So we’re going to need to spend more time with these students and build those relationships that we talk about being so important.” Brown said ACHS staff also feels it is important for students to have at least one time during the week when they can see all their teachers during the course of the day. “That gives them some continuity of making sure everyone is up to speed and on the same page,” said Dana Norman, chief academic officer, on having all classes on Wednesdays for secondary students. Norman said the block schedule format also helps the division provide more resources for career and technical education and electives at the middle school level. “We wanted consistency for children because they have had such an inconsistent process over the past [year and several months],” Norman said of the pandemic’s effect on education. The format also applies to the Amherst Education Center, also considered a secondary school. Under the 2021-22 school plan elementary schools will operate 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., an hour later than during this school year, while secondary schools will run 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The 2021-22 plan is available for viewing at