By Clarion Staff

       After five years with an eight-period block schedule, and two years with late-start Tuesdays, Chatsworth Charter High School will return to a six-period daily schedule in the fall and school will end early on certain Tuesdays.

       So what will your day look like? You’ll go to six classes for about 55 minutes each, with about 11 minutes added on to one of the periods for announcements and other homeroom-related activities.

      Tuesdays will vary. On 14 of them, school will end early for professional development. On the others, students will meet in academy-based advisory classes.

       Many students said they would miss the late starts on Tuesdays. “I think that we’re used to the late start, and so it’s going to take time for us to get adjusted to the new schedule,” said Cynthia Hernandez, a junior. “For me personally, I don’t really like how our Tuesdays are going to start at the same time as the other days.”

       Sophomore Alec Van Wagner sees disadvantages not starting late on Tuesdays. “I won’t be able to rehearse with my extracurricular, and I won’t be able to catch up on my much-needed sleep. I’ll have to get up earlier and walk to school because my parents can’t drive me on Tuesdays,” he said.

            Because the late Tuesday starts are not part of a traditional bell schedule, teachers must vote periodically on whether to continue them. When teachers voted this spring, a majority preferred to return to the previous schedule of 14 professional development days per year after school on Tuesdays.

         Some students were upset about changing to six periods and worried about the amount of daily homework they would receive, and whether they would have room in their schedule for sports, electives and other courses.

      “There are a lot of extracurricular classes I want to take, and I won’t be taking them because I’ll be full with academic classes,” said sophomore Anun Myagmardavvaa.

       “With the new schedule, I’m not going to get a lot of work done compared to this year because I have two open periods this year,” said Axel Maldonado, a junior. “And we’re going to have our AP classes every single day, which will be very hard for the students.”

        The school had to change the schedule to increase the number of minutes teachers teach each day to be in compliance with district policy, according to Principal Guy.

       “For me, the eight-period bell offered students the most opportunity,” he said.

       However, the principal emphasized he consulted with teachers, students and parents before deciding on a schedule. One option was to keep the eight-period schedule but have teachers teach seven classes instead of the current six. However, only 12 percent of teachers voted to do that, Dr. Guy said, while 82 percent preferred six periods.

       An online survey of parents, students and teachers showed that 43 percent preferred eight periods, while 51 percent wanted six, and 7 percent chose a seven-period schedule.

      Several teachers interviewed said they wanted six periods so they could see their students every day and have more time with each class over the course of the year.

       “You’re teaching fewer classes, but you’re teaching more minutes,” said Mrs. Richard, a science teacher.

        As for the amount of homework students will have with six periods, teachers don’t think it will change much, and might even be a bit less on a daily basis because classes will meet more often.