High School to move to trimester schedule

Faced with fewer teachers and more students, Sisters High School changed from the two semester "block" schedule to a trimester system.

Under the new schedule, students will attend five 70-to 75-minute classes which will meet every day for 12 weeks.

Credit will be awarded at the conclusion of each 12 weeks. In other words, each 12-week course will be worth .5 of a credit, so students can earn 2.5 credits each trimester and 7.5 credits for the year.

For the past six years, high school students have carried eight classes at a time, attending four 90-minute classes each day. Credit was earned at the conclusion of each of two 18-week semesters. Students could earn up to eight credits per year.

According to high school principal Dennis Dempsey, change is necessary because the high school has four fewer teachers than it had at the start of the 1996-97 school year, while enrollment has increased by 50 students.

"If we tried to keep the block schedule our class sizes would have increased to an unworkable level," he said. "The trimester is the best option available to us under the circumstances."

According to Dempsey, educational research shows that the trimester system actually has a lot of benefits, which, he says, makes the move more palatable.

For example, some students struggle under the burden of carrying eight classes at a time, while others miss large amounts of class time due to traveling for sports. With five classes meeting every day of the week, both of these problems are lessened.

In addition, the trimester schedule aligns more closely with the community college schedule, making it easier for students to pick up college classes if they so desire.

High school students and their parents are urged to attend a meeting on Monday, August 24, at 8 p.m. to learn more about the change to the trimester and to prepare for the next day's arena scheduling.

"Coming to arena scheduling without the information provided Monday night will make it difficult for students and parents to plan out the best academic schedule, so we hope everyone will attend," said Dempsey.

"We are going to make lemonade out of our lemons," he said.

Arena scheduling and registration schedule, Tuesday, August 25, Sisters High School Gym:

(Students need to come promptly to the start of their scheduled session.)

Seniors: 8-9:30 a.m.

Juniors: 9-11 a.m.

Sophomores: 12-2 p.m.

Freshmen: 1:30-3:30 p.m.