Northwest students are starting to come back onto campus for the third trimester, and there have been some changes in the schedule to accommodate this transition. Some of these changes include the school days being longer, more time for interest and affinity groups, and much more.
For the past two trimesters students have always had an advisory check in from 9:00 AM to 9:15 AM. This was a way to stay connected with the community while in remote learning. A big change in the trimester 3 schedule is that this block has been taken out and class will now begin at 9:00 AM.
Cecilia T, the assistant upper school director and science teacher at Northwest talked with me about taking out this morning advisory block. As she explained, the reason behind this is that when students are on campus they will be able to see their advisors and teachers more regularly in class. Cecilia continued, “Teachers on campus need the time at the beginning of class to get ready for students in-person and are not readily available to do Advisory check in sessions. We will continue to have the extended Advisory time on Wednesdays.”
Another big change in the trimester 3 schedule is that the school day is now longer, even though classes are still fifty five minutes. The difference is an added flex time from 1:30-2:30. This flex time will occur every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday will give students time to go to affinity/interest groups or office hours.
Cecilia told me more about why Northwest is changing their schedule for trimester three. She explained how the current schedule needed altering because Northwest does not have space to be able to safely conduct arts classes like choir and band given the current health protocols. She goes on to say, “For classes like Orchestra, it takes much more time for students to set up and take down safely with their instrument that there is not enough meaningful time to play in the current 55-minute period. We are committed to providing a rich arts experience which is best delivered in a remote setting in this current situation.”
For the Northwest community trimester three is going to be different. There is so much to look forward to as we are slowly starting to bring our community together again!
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