
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 9, 1995                   TAG: 9503110033
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: W-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: STEWART MACINNIS SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: NEW CASTLE                                LENGTH: Medium

CRAIG PLANS BLOCK SCHEDULE FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

High school students in Craig County will attend classes next year under a new block scheduling system, the school board decided Tuesday night.

School officials will begin an intensive community awareness campaign, providing information to parents and seeking their views, said James Cady, school board chairman. In addition, teachers will help develop the new system and will receive training to help them adjust to it.

The board adopted the block scheduling system as a tentative measure, reserving the right to keep the current scheduling system intact if block scheduling does not appear feasible. Cady said a final decision on the matter can be made as late as July.

"Some of our teachers have mixed feelings," said Superintendent M. Dallas Helems Jr. "Some have expressed some apprehension, but others are ready to go full steam ahead."

He said the matter has been under study for about a year, with administrators and teachers visiting other school divisions that have implemented the program.

Under block scheduling, students will attend four classes each day, rather than the six classes they now attend. The length of the classes will be increased from the current 50 minutes to 105 minutes. Students will complete those classes in one semester. They will attend a second set of four classes for the remaining 90 days of the school year.

Assistant Superintendent Donald J. Ford said school divisions that have implemented the block scheduling system have seen improved student attendance, lower dropout rates, more students on honor rolls, and higher grade point averages.

He said block scheduling increases the amount of instructional time without increasing the length of the day. Time allotted for changing classes is eliminated for the two periods that are dropped. Longer periods allow teachers to provide more hands-on instruction, as well as to be more creative.

Block scheduling also allows students to complete eight classes each year, rather than six. If a student fails a course the first semester, he has the chance to make it up without going to summer school.

High schools in Roanoke operate with block scheduling but those in Roanoke County and Salem do not.

by CNB