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Middle School Master Schedule

Katie Wissman

Longwood University
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Block Schedule 6th Grade (84 minute classes)

Time A Day B Day

8:20- 8:30 Homeroom Homeroom

8:30-9:44 Block 1 Block 1

9:44-9:48 Transition Transition

9:48- 11:12 Block 2 Block 2

11:12- 11:16 Transition Transition

11:16- 12:24 26 min.- Lunch 26 min.- Lunch
Lunch: 11:16- 11:42 4 min.- transition 4 min.- transition
Transition: 11:42- 11:46 38 min. - Flex Block 38 min. - Flex Block
Flex: 11:46- 12:24
12:24- 12:28 Transition Transition
12:28- 1:52 Block 3 Block 3

1:52- 1:56 Transition Transition

1:56-3:20 1:56- 2:36 1:56- 2:36

Elective 1 Elective 3

2:36- 2:40 Transition Transition

2:40-3:20 2:40-3:20
Elective 2 Elective 4

 Two lunch blocks- 6th grade and half of 7th, then 8th grade and the other half of 7th
 Science and Social Studies are semester classes
 4 electives, 40 minutes
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Block Schedule 7th Grade (84 minute classes)

Time A Day B Day

8:20- 8:30 Homeroom Homeroom

8:30-9:44 Block 1 Block 1

9:44-9:48 Transition Transition

9:48- 11:12 9:48- 10:28 9:48- 10:28
Elective 1 Elective 3

10:28- 10:32 Transition Transition

10:32- 11:12 10:32- 11:12
Elective 2 Elective 4

11:12- 11:16 Transition Transition

11:16- 12:24 26 min.- Lunch 26 min.- Lunch
Lunch: 4 min.- transition 4 min.- transition
Group 1: 11:16- 11:42 38 min. - Flex Block 38 min. - Flex Block
Group 2: 11:58- 12:24
Transition:
Group 1: 11:42- 11:46
Group 2: 11:54- 11:58
Flex:
Group 1: 11:46- 12:24
Group 2: 11: 16- 11:54
12:24- 12:28 Transition Transition
12:28- 1:52 Block 3 Block 3

1:52- 1:56 Transition Transition

1:56-3:20 Block 4 Block 4

 Two lunch blocks- 6th grade and half of 7th, then 8th grade and the other half of 7th
 Science and Social Studies are semester classes
 4 electives, 40 minutes each
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Block Schedule 8th Grade (84 minute classes)

Time A Day B Day

8:20- 8:30 Homeroom Homeroom

8:30-9:44 Block 1 Block 1

9:44-9:48 Transition Transition

9:48- 11:12 Block 2 Block 2

11:12- 11:16 Transition Transition

11:16- 12:24 26 min.- Lunch 26 min.- Lunch
Flex: 11: 16- 11:54 4 min.- transition 4 min.- transition
Transition: 11:54- 11:58 38 min. - Flex Block 38 min. - Flex Block
Lunch: 11:58- 12:24
12:24- 12:28 Transition Transition
12:28- 1:08
Elective 1 Elective 3

1:08- 1:12 Transition Transition

1:12- 1:52
Elective 2 Elective 4

1:52- 1:56 Transition Transition

1:56-3:20 Block 4 Block 4

 Two lunch blocks- 6th grade and half of 7th, then 8th grade and the other half of 7th
 Science and Social Studies are semester classes
 4 electives, 40 minutes
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6th Grade Teacher Schedule

All classes- 22:1 Student to Teacher Ratio

Teacher A Teacher B Teacher C Teacher D Teacher E Teacher F Teacher G Teacher H

Block 1 Advanced Reading Reading Math Math Science Science History

Reading

Block 2 Reading Reading Reading Math Math Science Science History

Inclusion
+Aid
Flex/ Lunch
Students return to homeroom
Lunch: 11:16- 11:42

Block 3 Reading Reading Math Math Math Math History History

Inclusion
+ Aid
Block 4 Planning
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7th Grade Teacher Schedule

Teacher A Teacher B Teacher C Teacher D Teacher E Teacher F Teacher G Teacher H

Block 1 Advanced Reading Reading Math Math Science History Math 7

Reading Inclusion
+Aid
Block 2 Planning

Flex/ Lunch
Students return to homeroom
All Reading, All Science Lunch: 11:16- 11:42
All Math, All History Lunch: 11:58- 12:24
Block 3 Reading Reading Reading 7 Advanced Math Science History Math 8
Inclusion Math
+Aid
Block 4 Reading Reading Reading 8 Math Math Science History Math 8
Inclusion Inclusion
+Aid +Aid

Student to Teacher Ratios:

Reading 7: 22:1

Math 7: 25:1

Science: 29:1

History: 29:1

Aides Schedule

Block 1 Block 2 Flex Block 3 Block 4

Aid A Reading 6 Reading 6 Reading 7 Reading 8
Severe Inclusion Inclusion Inclusion Inclusion
A/B Days Disabilities Class 6th Grade 6th Grade 7th/8th Grade 7th/ 8th Grade
Teacher C Teacher C Teacher C Teacher C

Aid B Math 7 Inclusion Math 7 Inclusion Math 6 Inclusion Math 8 Inclusion

7th/8th Grade Severe 7th/ 8th Grade 6th Grade 7th/ 8th Grade
A/B Days Teacher H Disabilities Class Teacher H Teacher C Teacher H
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8th Grade Teacher Schedule

Teacher A Teacher B Teacher C Teacher D Teacher E Teacher F

Block 1 Advanced Reading Math Math History Science

Reading
Block 2 Reading Reading Advanced Math History Science
Math
Flex/ Lunch
Students return to homeroom
Lunch: 11:58- 12:24
Block 3 Planning

Block 4 Reading Reading Math Math History Science

Student to Teacher Ratios:

Reading: 23:1

Math: 20:1

History: 27:1

Science: 27:1

Severe Disabilities Self-Contained Teacher/ Students

Block 1 Block 2 Flex Block Block 3 Block 4

Self Contained Self Contained Adaptive Self Contained
Students Reading Math Flex PE/Electives with History
Lunch: 8th Grade
11:16- 11:42

Self Contained Self Contained Planning Self Contained

Teacher Reading Math Flex History
With Aid With Aid Lunch:
11:16- 11:42
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Elective Teacher Schedule

PE 1 PE 2 Art Music Band STEM Spanish Symphony

A B A B A B A B A B A B A B A B
Block 1 Planning
2.1 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 X X 7 7
2.2 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 X X 7 7
Flex/ Lunch
3.1 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 X X X X
Adaptive Adaptive Adaptive Adaptive
3.2 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 X X X X
Adaptive Adaptive Adaptive Adaptive
4.1 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 X X
4.2 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 X X

Student: Teacher Ratios

7th Grade: 25:1

8th Grade: 27:1 (Class sizes during adaptive classes will vary)

6th Grade: 25:1

Year Long Classes:

PE

Band

Symphony

Semester Classes:

Art

Music

STEM

Spanish

**Note: The “Symphony” teacher is the band teacher shared with the high school. **
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Reflection

When creating the master schedule, several factors had to be taken into consideration. I had several goals I

wanted to accomplish with this schedule, including: reasonable class sizes, common planning for grade levels, block

scheduling, advanced and inclusion classes, and intervention time. To create this schedule, I considered several different

schedules I had encountered, as well as consulted my principal and the master schedule for my building. The first part I

worked on was the block scheduling. Block scheduling allows for large amounts of instructional time spent in core

content areas, specifically Math and Language Arts. Furthermore, block scheduling allowed for the sharing of the band

(symphony) and Spanish teachers with the high school, as they were only available for one block.

In regard to class sizes, I consulted both the Virginia Department of Education regulations and those for my

school district, which happened to be the same. According to the VDOE, the only class size regulations for grades 6-12

are for English classes with a ratio of 24:1, students to teachers. This was kept in mind when scheduling reading classes

and I was able to keep all Reading classes at a ratio of 24:1 or less. Math classes were also able to be kept at a

reasonable ratio of 25:1. History and Science classes were a bit more difficult in that less classes were able to be devoted

to these subjects, making the ratios higher. As the 8th grade class was smaller, two teachers were able to be reallocated

to electives. Having some teachers teach multiple subjects or grade levels also helped free those two teachers for

electives. The decision to use the Special Education Inclusion teachers for Reading and Math classes was strategic in

that I was able to create more sections of the subject and provide more appropriate education for core subject areas.

These classes have SOL tests every year as opposed to History and Science, which only have SOL tests during 8th grade. I

decided it would be best to focus more teachers on Math and Language Arts to provide the best opportunity for the

most students to pass the SOL’s. I also tried to take the teacher’s request to keep class sizes small into consideration as

well and was successful in all classes except the History and Science classes for 7th and 8th grade, which are at 29:1 and

27:1 respectfully.

Teacher certifications also had to be considered. 6th grade certified teachers can hold an elementary degree

which allows them to teach multiple subjects, but no class above the 6th grade level. 7th and 8th grade teachers can

typically only teach one subject but multiple grade levels. Both considerations were used in the creation of this schedule.
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Furthermore, I decided to use the Special Education Inclusion teacher in a way that assumes these teachers are dually

certified in general and special education, allowing them to teach inclusion as the SPED teacher with an aid. This allows

for the accommodation of the SPED students in each grade level in an inclusion setting.

A major goal when creating the schedule was to create a time for intervention. In previous years, my school did

not have an intervention block and students struggled to complete work on time and there was no time for teachers to

meet with students in need. The creation of an intervention block provides students this “free” time to work, read, or

study. It also allows teachers, especially special education teachers, to provide support to struggling students, as well as

enrichment opportunities to challenge students (Benner & Partelow, 2017). It is not a time for new instruction. I chose

to make the intervention block coincide with the lunch block for two reasons. First, it provides students with a break in

the middle of the day to recharge and give their brains a break from instruction. This strategy is often used in

elementary schools with recess, and while recess is not necessary in middle school in the traditional terms, we must

remember students this age are exceptionally busy and will still benefit from down time from instruction. Even we as

teachers value our planning block insomuch that it gives us a break from teaching. The second reason I wanted it to align

with lunch is so that instructional time would not be broken up by lunch. In my current daily schedule as a teacher, my

third block class is interrupted by lunch and it is difficult to begin teaching, go to lunch, bring students back, and refocus

them enough to teach again. This results in, on average, about 10 minutes of instruction lost. Making intervention block

coincide with lunch, transition time and instructional disruptions are minimized. Furthermore, with each grade level

having a common intervention time, at least to some extent, students are able to move between teachers to get help in

other content areas if needed. This is also why I decided to call the time “Flex” block, as it is flexible to allow students to

get the help they need from different teachers.

When scheduling the electives, I tried to consider the age of the students in each grade level and what times

would benefit their needs the most. From my experience, the younger, 6th grade students focus best in the morning and

have lost focus by the afternoon, thus making 4th block electives the best choice for them. 7th and 8th graders are more

able to refocus during the day and return to instruction. I made 8th grade electives during third block to allow for

adaptive classes. The aides were only available during 1st and 2nd block to help with instruction in the self-contained
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classroom, making third block the best option for electives for them. I also took into consideration the idea that 8th

grade students may be more accepting and helpful with adaptive students.

In creating this schedule, I faced several difficulties, some I was unable to overcome. Liberties had to be taken in

regard to teacher certifications. If dually certified teachers, or 6th grade teachers that are not elementary certified are

not available, scheduling would be more challenging. It would also be beneficial to have an extra Science and History

teacher at the 7th and 8th grade levels to reduce class sizes. More aids would be helpful for the adaptive elective classes,

the self-contained class, and the classes with higher numbers. Last, ideally 3 lunch blocks would be able to be created to

allow for the most beneficial Flex time for 7th grade. However, for this to be possible, and when accounting for transition

times, lunch blocks would need to be shorter, not allowing for a sufficient amount of time to eat. I considered having all

but two classes of 7th and 8th graders to eat at one time, however this would put the cafeteria at maximum capacity and

risk running into supervision and discipline issues. Therefore, I determined it would be best to split the 7th grade. Overall,

all other needs, including the teachers’ requests for reasonable class sizes and common planning time, were met.

I have neither given nor received help on this work, nor am I aware of any infraction of the Honor Code.
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References:

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/boe/quality/soq_max_class_size.pdf

https://manassaspark.finalsite.com/uploaded/SchoolBoardPolicies/I-Instruction/IHB_9.2016.pdf

Rettig, M.D., “Designing Quality Middle School Master Schedules”

Hester, A., Kay-Wyatt, M., "Real World: Welcome to the Jungle"

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-k-12/reports/2017/02/23/426723/reimagining-the-school-day/

Consultations with Principal and Assistant Principal and access to our building’s master schedule