Ridgewood High School freshmen will design their own weekly class schedules this fall under a new flex schedule program to begin in about six weeks, said Principal Chris Uhle.
Flextime Manager functions through the students’ school-issued iPads and gives students an opportunity to design weekly schedules, with the help of an adviser, based on their individualized academic needs.
The motivation is to give students an opportunity to use their time as effectively as possible, Uhle said. If a student feels like they need more help in math, for instance, but are excelling in English, they can opt to take an extra math class rather than sit through an English class where they may not feel challenged.
“The student creates their day based on their needs,” said Superintendent Jennifer Kelsall, who said students will also have the opportunity to schedule time for independent study or to work on group projects.
“We’re calling it What I Need, or WIN time,” Kelsall said.
Each freshman will be assigned a new adviser with whom they will plan the week ahead. Planning meetings will likely take place on Thursday or Friday, Uhle said.
“The adviser will sit with students to map out their week, using data and their grades to guide scheduling decisions,” Kelsall said.
Some advisers will work with up to 20 students, while others will work with small groups.
“The idea is that the advisers will get to know these kids using data to focus on their needs,” he said.
Advising will now be a school-wide effort, said Uhle, who is serving as an adviser himself.
Using Flextime Manager to design more customized schedules will be a gradual process for students and staff, administrator said.
“It would be unrealistic to take students who are used to the bell-to-bell school day and throw them into the deep end with all this freedom,” Uhle said.
While students need time to adjust to the academics at the high school and ease into flex scheduling, teachers, administrators and staff need time to get to know the students’ needs as well, said Kelsall.
“Part of this process is figuring out this class and who the kids are,” she said. “For some of them, it may take longer for them to be ready for it.”
The superintendent said the team at Ridgewood is hopeful that this program will help with time management. One of the major goals is to help students recognize their own needs and be more in control.
“By the time they’re older and they’re ready to leave, they’ll know how to manage their time,” she said.
The Flextime Manager will sync with the school’s new Spotter attendance system, that syncs with the students’ schedule on their school issued iPads. Beacons installed in the school will recognize whether students are in their scheduled classroom for a certain class period.
The beacons were installed in part to work with the new flex schedule.
“We’re eliminating classes and periods and are going to start to log instructional minutes,” Kesall said. “We needed something to track attendance for our nontraditional schedules.”
