LHS will switch to 7-period day

Students head to class this morning at La Grande High School. School now starts at 8:25 a.m. at LHS. Beginning with the 2010-11 school year, classes will begin around 8 a.m. when a new seven-period schedule takes effect. CHRIS BAXTER/The Observer

All with little additional expense to the school district.

The added instruction will be a benefit of the high school’s switch to a seven-period day from its present block schedule. The transition, which takes effect with the beginning of the 2010-11 school year, will mean LHS students will attend seven approximately 50-minute classes a day. LHS students now attend five 66-minute classes a day.

“We need to be more efficient and this will maximize efficiency,’’ Setser said.

“I’m excited about the additional exposure our students will have to our teachers.’’

About 2 1/2 hours of instructional time will be added a week in part through moving up the start of the school day. Presently, classes start at 8:25 a.m., but under the seven-period day school will begin around 8 a.m. The school day, which now ends at 3:05 p.m., will conclude at about the same time.

The district will not have to pay its high school teachers more even though the school day is being lengthened. The reason is teachers will not be required to be at school longer. The teachers’ contracts call for them to be at LHS from 7:30 a.m. through 3:30 p.m. each school day. This requirement will not change with the switch to the seven-period day. The difference is teachers will begin instructing classes around 8 a.m. instead of 8:25 a.m.

“We will be making more efficient use of the time we have our teachers here,’’ Setser said.

The one added expense the district will have during the transition process, will involve granting time to teachers to prepare for the switch. This cost will be minimal, Setser said.

A second major plus of the seven-period day is that it will provide more continuity for classes like math and foreign languages.

“Students will be able to take math classes such as Algebra I for a full year,’’ the first-year LHS principal said.

Presently LHS students complete Algebra I in half a year because of longer class periods. Once a student has finished Algebra I in late January, it is possible that he or she may not take another math class in their sequence until the start of the following school year. Such breaks in continuity will be much rarer under the seven-period day.

Breaks between classes of at least eight months set students back, especially in subjects like math and foreign languages, Setser said. La Grande Superintendent Larry Glaze, a strong supporter of the seven-period day, agrees.

“It is best if students have continuous yearlong exposure to subjects like math, foreign languages and the language arts,’’ Glaze said.

A third major plus of the seven-period day is that it will make it easier for many students to transfer in or out of LHS. LHS will be on a credit system identical to the one used by most Oregon high schools, Setser said.

Presently LHS, because of its block schedule, has a system for calculating credits earned by students that is different from that used by most Oregon high schools. This makes it difficult for many incoming students to transfer credits to LHS. It also makes it harder for students moving from LHS to another high school to transfer credits.

The high school has received the green light from the school board to switch to a seven-period day. Setser said the transition will be challenging for everyone on the LHS staff. He is encouraged with how people are stepping forward to assist.