Radford High to move to 4x4 block schedule after months of planning

Radford City School Board voted March 4 to adopt a 4x4 semester block schedule at Radford High School, following presentations and questions from the board, staff and students.

Administrators said the change — announced to staff in December after a scheduling committee and a staff vote — will let students take fewer classes at once and allow the school to offer more course sections. "Block schedule allows them to earn eight credits per school year," Radford High principal Mr. Simpson said during his presentation to the board, noting the change also increases teacher planning time and the school’s ability to add DE, CTE and AP sections.

School leaders told the board the planning process started with outside consultation and included teachers from across departments, department heads, counselors, central office staff and student representatives. Simpson said the scheduling committee considered three models and that, after mock master schedules and a staff review period, 78 percent of staff selected the traditional 4x4 semester block as the preferred model. Simpson said the committee and building leadership believed the model best matched the new state accountability measures and local priorities.

Supporters said the block model would let the school offer an additional course per year for students, provide targeted credit recovery and allow extended daily instructional time suitable for labs and project-based learning. Simpson said teachers would move from about 47 minutes of daily planning to roughly 80–90 minutes under the block model, and that the school expects to be able to add roughly 50 additional course sections systemwide by shifting teacher course loads.

Board members and staff also discussed trade-offs, including the risk that students absent from a block class miss more minutes in a single period than under the seven-period day and that some instructional time per course would be modestly reduced on a daily basis. Simpson said the division plans multiple professional-development opportunities, visits to nearby schools on block schedules and spring and summer workshops to prepare teachers. He said selected speakers will provide follow-up sessions in August and that teachers who do extra preparation work will receive professional-development credit points.

Simpson described concrete steps to address schedule compatibility with nearby programs, including Governor’s School and hybrid/virtual offerings: students returning mid-day could be placed in study halls, virtual classes or a fall/spring mix to ensure the same number of credits. He said counselors will prioritize seniors and students at risk during registration and scheduling so those students meet diploma and dual-enrollment requirements.

After discussion the board voted to place the schedule on the evening’s action agenda; the board then approved the 4x4 schedule by voice vote. The motion passed with no recorded roll-call opposition.

Board direction and next steps include finalizing master schedules, confirming registrations, implementing the professional-development timeline Simpson outlined (April faculty workshops, summer preparation, follow-ups in August/September) and continuing staff input on placement and sequencing.

Provenance: First presentation to board: transcript block starting at 849.4 (Mr. Simpson presentation). Final board action (voice vote approving schedule): transcript block starting at 7654.79 (motion and voice vote).