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District provides detailed update on new high‑school schedule; AP, CTE and supports addressed
Summary
District staff described implementation steps for a new 4x4 high‑school schedule, including PD plans, course-pairing decisions for AP and lab sciences, use of a flex period, pacing-guide adjustments and registration timelines.
The Chapel Hill‑Carrboro administration gave a comprehensive update on Jan. 16 about implementation of a new 4x4 high‑school schedule, outlining professional development, course-pairing decisions, registration timelines and implementation risks.
Dr. Trice and colleagues said the schedule is built around four 80‑minute instructional blocks, a 45‑minute lunch and a 40‑minute flex period placed after third block to accommodate student travel between campuses and to support targeted interventions. The district said it consulted the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction on seat-hour concerns for career and technical education (CTE) courses and that DPI agreed flex time can be used to meet accreditation seat-hour requirements when scheduled appropriately.
Administrators described professional development for teachers that will include a February in‑service day, asynchronous modules through a vendor (Branching Minds) and rolling PD in departments and PLCs. Staff said PD will focus on lesson-design for longer blocks (content "chunking," routines and differentiated strategies) and that coaches and school leaders will support on-site planning and monitoring.
The administration said most Advanced Placement courses will run on a semester basis, with the exception of AP science courses that have required labs; those courses will be scheduled year‑long using an A/B day format so labs meet seat‑hour accreditation requirements. World language and arts courses will run on a semester basis; AVID will meet year‑long, paired with a required ninth‑ or tenth‑grade course and will use the A/B day format. The district plans to pair tier‑3 remedial courses with the academic course they support (for example, foundations of math paired with Math 1) so students can receive prerequisite support in one semester and take the grade-level course in the following semester.
On registration and timing, district staff said students will register for courses for the entire year in PowerSchool between Jan. 29 and Feb. 14; the master-schedule "skeleton" will be built from those requests. The administration reiterated that students do not register on a semester-by-semester basis but may be placed into sequential courses after master scheduling if seats permit. Staff also outlined community Q&A sessions, school-based elective nights and an FAQ to be published before the registration window.
Implementation risks were limited in staff remarks to the upcoming statewide transition to the North Carolina student information system (NC‑SIS), which the district will adopt in July as part of cohort two. Staff said they are coordinating with DPI and that NC‑SIS representatives will present to the board Feb. 6 on statewide learnings.
Board members and staff discussed accommodations for students with disabilities and attention‑difference diagnoses, transportation and how the district will support students who miss classes for extracurricular commitments. Administrators said individualized scheduling and placement, use of flex time, PLC supports, and targeted interventions will be used to support affected students. Staff committed to further monitoring and to bringing data back to the Student Success Committee and the full board.
