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McCall working group outlines rotating schedule, longer daily flex block for 2025–26
Summary
McCall Middle School’s schedule working group told the School Committee it will pilot a rotating class schedule next year, extend the daily FlexBlock from 25 to 30 minutes, remove a long homeroom in favor of a short organizational period, and seek ongoing feedback to refine changes.
Winchester School Committee members heard a progress report June 12 from McCall Middle School staff on a schedule redesign that the school plans to implement for the 2025–26 school year.
The McCall Schedule Change Working Group presented a new rotating schedule that moves team classes and exploratory classes through different periods across the six-day cycle so students do not always have the same subject at the same time of day. The goal, the presenters said, is that "students have a chance to be in classes at different times of day" so that a student who learns best in the morning has opportunities to experience every subject at a time that fits their strengths, a point Dr. Ellenema (McCall schedule team) emphasized.
The working group proposed to extend the pilot FlexBlock — a 25-minute daily period introduced this year for make-up work, small-group help, decompression and relationship-building — to 30 minutes. James (McCall staff) presented survey results showing that a majority of students and staff supported keeping FlexBlock and making it longer; staff responses favored placing the FlexBlock later in the day so students have more work available to complete or get help with.
Other specific changes the committee heard: - Homeroom will be shortened and replaced with a short organizational time (about four minutes) immediately before first period so students can prepare for the day; the group said the previous eight-minute homeroom was too long and produced idle time. - Passing time between classes will be reduced from four minutes to three minutes in many cases because most McCall transitions are short walks between adjacent rooms. The working group acknowledged accommodations will be made for students with mobility needs and for those who must travel farther between certain exploratories. - Rotations will use a six-day cycle with days 1/3/5 sharing a pattern and days 2/4/6 sharing the alternate sequence; team classes will rotate so the same subject will not always fall in the same period.
Why this matters: Committee members and staff framed the change as an attempt to align the middle-school day with student learning rhythms and to reduce the number of transitions that leave students missing exploratory classes or services. The working group emphasized the change is inside the existing start and end times for the school day; the working group is not proposing to change the overall length of the school day.
Support and next steps: Presenters said the process included surveys, focus groups and meetings with staff and students. The working group plans to continue regular data collection in 2025–26 and to bring back proposals for further changes in 2026 and 2027, including a possible "waterfall" schedule that would rotate every period across the day. Staff told the committee they will monitor how schedule changes affect students who receive occupational therapy, speech and other services; the extended FlexBlock should allow many 30-minute IEP or counseling sessions to occur without pulling students out of exploratory classes, they said.
Committee response: Members praised the participatory process, asked for continued attention to access for students with services, and encouraged ongoing measurement of the pilot’s effects on instruction and extracurricular time.
