5ive by 5ive Schedules
May 25, 2010
Filed under News, Top Stories
By: Gabriela Palacios
For years Lakeview Centennial has operated on a 4×4 schedule. This means students will be in eight classes, every two days, for a little less than 90 minutes each class. Now for the first time in LCHS history GISD is considering to make the change next year to a 5×5 schedule. This means two extra classes and less class time.
Lakeview is GISD’s guinea pig for this transition. It is still not certain whether or not it will happen next year, the year after that, or even if it will ever happen at all. Currently the final decision is still pending at a state level.
“If the change were to occur it would not be GISD wide,” counselor Brent Theis said. “Lakeview would be the pilot school to see how it works out. We [the counselors] are making 10 course schedules for everyone already just in case and if technology can support this change than I’m all for it.”
For students this could be exactly what the school needs. Lakeview recently also became the experimental school to try the Collegiate Academy. Trying to fit both high school and college into such cramped schedules has gotten to be overwhelming for students and counselors alike.
“I like the idea of it because it gives you more chances. Being in the Collegiate Academy limits how many electives you have,” sophomore Sterling Boutte said. “I hope we have the 5×5 schedule so when I’m a senior I won’t be stuck taking some boring required class that I could’ve taken my junior year.”
Also a new nationwide rule has been set increasing the number of credits needed to graduate making schedules more packed than ever.
“I would like to have the 5×5 schedule. Students now have to take an extra science and math. If we were on a 5×5 schedule they would have more choices as far as electives,” Assistant Principal, Dwight Lofton said.
For some students the 90 minute blocks add to a loss of focus and drive. Most students are in favor of the change.
“The classes are too long in a 4×4 schedule and I would prefer the 5×5. It will also help out students that don’t have a lot of credits to get caught up,” junior Jobin Samuel said.
Students, teachers, and even administration are still unsure of what exactly will happen next year. While Lakeview waits for a final confirmation all we can do is hope and prepare.
“It takes time to do anything and we don’t have the luxury of time,” Lofton said. “So it’s not confirmed yet.”
The state’s decision on the matter should be evident to all LCHS students by this summer when they receive their schedules for the 2010-2011 school year.
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