For the past few months, the RCHS administration had been contemplating a schedule change, going from a seven-period plan to a four “blocks” plan. After large pushback amongst teachers, students, and parents, they have decided to push the implementation a year, leaving the 2026-2027 school year in the same schedule. The following is how students are responding to the decision.
Freshman Brystol Kessinger: “I am so happy it’s not being put in.”
Junior Calvin Clark: “I knew it wouldn’t actually be implemented because it wasn’t good, so I knew he wouldn’t follow through.”
Freshman Charlie Campbell: “It’s really good. I think not having the block schedule is a good idea, like […] instead of being in a class for […] four classes a day that are like, two hours instead of [seven 50-minute classes]. Like, it’s better with seven classes that are like 50 minutes. [I think it’s better] just because I don’t want to be in one class for like, two hours long. I wanna switch and not be, if I don’t like the teacher, I don’t want to have to be in there for an hour, two hours.”
Sophomore Kadence Murray: “I’m so ecstatic about it. So basically, I think it’s a really good decision that it’s not happening this year ‘cus there’s people like me, where we can’t even pay attention in, like, our classes as it is, and we struggle to pay attention in even longer classes ‘cus the attention span of teenagers isn’t that long, unless you’re doing something you really, really like.”
Junior Lucas Secoy: “We are glad that the administration has made this decision so that they have more time to make a carefully thought-out plan.”
Freshman Alexis Harrison: “I’m so happy that we don’t have to have [the block schedule]. I think that [the seven-period schedule] just gives us more opportunities to do what we wanted to and how we feel about taking more classes, like more AP or more DE.”
Junior Nathan Redden: “Ticks me off; [there were] a lot of good opportunities. For myself, personally, I’m trying to take more classes, especially more, or just being able to try to expand my own repertoire, and the block schedule was going to allow me to do that, to take more classes, to be able to split up which classes I wanted to take. For example, if I wanted to take Calculus AB and BC, I would be able to do that all in one year, to statistics the year afterwards, but that’s not a possibility for me because the block schedule would have made that available in advance. It opens up possibilities for more creativity and more schedule, as well as being able to fit more in the first place.”
Freshman Olivia Stanley: “I’m very happy about it because it gives opportunities for fine arts and all of that stuff.”
Freshman Julie Umbarger: “I feel like it’s probably for the better because it was such, like, a sudden change to be brought upon the students and the teachers, and even if they were still to do it, in the continuous years, it was more time to get adjusted to it.”
Freshman Hollie Willis: “I don’t have to suffer math for 90 minutes; let’s go!”
