I am aware that this may seem lengthy, but I want students and parents to have the full picture on how this affects us as the student body. It was recently informed to some students that New Caney ISD is moving to an 8 periods per day schedule as opposed to the normal blocked A/B schedule (5 classes per day). This is detrimental to many students and teachers, as many believe that our block schedule is superior compared to a cramped 8 classes per day. 5 periods per day gives a student a quality over quantity experience, with enough time to understand and master a subject, unlike 8 periods per day, which gives us a watered down version of what we already have. This also means more work per day, which isn’t efficient in the learning experience since you’re more likely to cram all of into your head and not really take it in, and an over abundance of work could also mean a more likely chance of students cheating, which also leads to less academic success. This also affects teachers since they may not have enough time to give a full lesson and instead have to cut it into bits instead of elaborating and helping students understand, teachers should educate, not send students home to make them learn it themselves because they didn’t enough have time. This does not even factor in athletics or fine arts, in which the quality could decrease by a good number. For athletics, you would get dressed, do a warm up, and suddenly you’ve lost a majority of your time, growth cannot be accomplished in such a limited amount of time. And for fine arts, such as marching band for example, it’s a long process of practice for a long amount of time, there are many difference factors that are needed to perfect it, 45 minutes is not even a fraction of the time needed to perfect a whole show. Even with before and after school practices, the school day is where the foundation starts.

This decision was made “with the students’ best interest in mind,” yet in a room full of diverse people, 34 to be exact, only about two raised their hands when the class was asked if this would positively benefit them. What is the point of making such a huge change if only a few people are being benefited? The answer is easy, money. This action is them simply working against our favor for their own gain, I don’t believe parents should use all of this money in say the recent school bond only for the district to directly go against what their children need. While I know 8 periods per day is a style that has been around for forever, so you may say why should we change it? I believe it’s because it’s time for a change, we may be distinct from how other schools do their business, but I believe being different can work in our favor. We have more time to work on what we need to, instead of rushing the entire process and allowing a larger part of the student body to fall behind. Good grades don’t mean anything when they could easily be from cheating, and would the school district really prefer looking good compared to having an actual intellectual student population?

A final piece of information that I’d like to share is that students have not been formally told this by the district , some teachers have decided to share while others have been keeping it to themselves, this is what the district wants in order to succeed. Adding to the fact of doing such a thing to us, they are doing it behind our backs so that we have no say in it. This is why I believe that we need to stand up and have our voices heard, I cannot do this alone, and I know others feel the same as I. Please, help assist others and I as we try to defend ourselves from the district trying to block our voices out. They know we can change this, but they don’t want that to happen, so let’s remind them that we are here, caring for our own well-being, and that of our fellow students. Thank you for reading, and please share this with anyone you can.

Sincerely,

A Concerned New Caney ISD Student