SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — It's a new era of education for three high schools in the San Diego Unified School District, which will join 13 others by moving away from a six-period schedule to a four-by-four model.
The decision, made unanimously by the District Board of Education at Tuesday's meeting, impacts Mira Mesa, Madison, and Canyon Hills High School starting next school year.
“This is a big decision," Lili Fuller reminded the board ahead of its vote.
Fuller is an English and AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination — a college readiness system) teacher at Madison High School. While she's "excited about the opportunity for students to experience additional coursework," she does have some concerns.
"It's not just about what students want to take but also what is available to teach, what teachers can teach, particular subjects," Fuller told ABC 10News after the meeting.
Essentially, instead of taking a traditional six-period schedule, which means the same six classes every day for a full school year, students would switch to taking four classes each semester.
Each period would be extended, though, from about 50-60 minutes to around 90-110 minutes, according to Nicole DeWitt, Deputy Superintendent of Instruction for SDUSD.
DeWitt said SDUSD has worked with neighboring districts to collect data on impacts to Advanced Placement pass rates or student grades to gauge how successful this switch could be.
“What we’ve seen in other districts is that they are still maintaining or even higher than what was seen before the transition," she told ABC 10News.
The San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts made the switch to a four-by-four model a few years ago. Two sophomores spoke at Tuesday's meeting to tout its improvements.
“It reduces my stress levels because I only have four classes to focus on, and so I have more time to manage all my homework and extracurricular activities," said Chloe Fernandez.
Elizabeth Lee added, "It’s super beneficial and helpful, so I think all schools in our district should have them.”
Of the 22 high schools in SDUSD, 13 have already moved away from the six-period schedule. Now, Mira Mesa, Madison, and Canyon Hills will be added to the list.
“These three schools were chosen because they’ve been doing a lot of work within their communities over the past several years and months to prepare for this transition,” DeWitt said.
Even with that preparation, Fuller still has mixed feelings about the decision.
“Is this a mandate for all schools eventually, and it’s just a matter of how that will be implemented — and maybe that implementation is different than what was discussed before — or is it an option for schools based on a site decision?" she questioned. "I didn’t feel like that was a clear decision tonight."
As for these three schools, the new schedule will be implemented next fall.
Based on what appeared to be updated presentation slides from the Board of Education, by the 2028-29 school year, the remaining schools will "decide IF a 4x4 model best meets their needs for 29-30."
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