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Indian Hill principal proposes "MP time" schedule to give students choice, added academic support
Summary
Indian Hill High School principal Andy Gruber outlined a schedule redesign that keeps block days but introduces three seven-period days and a consolidated MP (multi-purpose) time for lunch, clubs, tutoring and counseling. The plan emphasizes student choice, wellness and phased rollout with freshman supports.
Andy Gruber, principal of Indian Hill High School, presented a proposed schedule redesign to the school board that he said is intended to give students more choice and better prepare them for life after graduation. Gruber described a hybrid calendar that preserves block days while adding three regular seven-period days and a new MP (multi-purpose) time that combines lunch, academic support, counselor meetings, clubs and wellness activities.
Gruber said MP time would provide a single, predictable window when the entire building is together and students may choose structured support or open-study spaces. "It is lunch, it is time for ECE programming, it is time for the counselors to meet with all their students, clubs and activities can meet," Gruber said. The plan would include an all-day café and expanded grab-and-go food stations operated in partnership with Aramark so students could buy food throughout the day.
Under the proposal, the district would replace traditional study halls with an "open study" model: students could use the cafeteria, media center, gymnasium or designated study rooms depending on their needs. Gruber said the plan includes supervision, digital ID check-ins and a tiered support system for freshmen, including orientation "bridges" and peer mentors from student leaders, NHS and student government.
Gruber cited feedback from alumni who said the redesign would help students learn time management and self-advocacy before college. He also reported retention and enrollment figures to justify the change, saying current eighth-grade retention is about 92 percent and that fewer students are choosing private competitors than in the past. "We want to prepare students for life beyond Drake Road," Gruber said, framing the changes as deliberate steps to improve student wellness and belonging.
Board members asked how mandatory programming and conflicting club or class events would be handled; Gruber said some activities would be mandatory for particular cohorts (for example, grade-level counseling sessions) while other uses would remain optional and that the school will work to resolve scheduling conflicts. He said the district intends to pilot supports rather than immediately expand off-campus privileges and emphasized a phased rollout starting on the first day of school with planned instruction in the new routines.
No formal vote was taken on the schedule; the presentation was informational and will inform future administrative planning and stakeholder outreach.
