An adjusted bell schedule was introduced to accommodate MCAP testing for 10th graders on Apr. 8 and 9. For all students, the first two periods of the day (either first and second period or third and fourth period) were 95 minutes each, then lunch was followed by 56 sixth, seventh, and eighth periods. This adjusted schedule allowed sophomores to take MISA, government and English testing in the morning and attend class in the afternoon. This schedule is being continued during the two weeks of AP testing, currently in progress.
AP testing started Monday, May 5 and finishes Friday, May 16. In previous years, this school has worked with the University of Shady Grove, having half of the testing occur in rooms on their campus and half at this school. This allowed for more classrooms to be open for instruction throughout the day. However, this ended as of the 2023-2024 school year.
The administration tries to formulate a testing schedule that will work for everyone. “Anytime we have an adjusted bell schedule, we meet with our instructional leadership team, which comprises resource teachers, the head of counseling, and other leadership positions. We have a testing team specifically, and we collaborate on that schedule with them,” Assistant Principal David O’Shell said.
Restrictions come with trying to make a new schedule for testing. “There are constraints to the schedule, so there are a lot of things we wish we could do, but we are constrained by the state of Maryland and other things we are required to have,” O’Shell said.
Last year, when testing was switched to this school location only, the schedule consisted of testing in the morning. The students who were not testing arrived at 11 a.m. for lunch and went to their first through fourth periods or advisory, sixth through eighth periods, alternating on an A+B schedule. “This was really effective and did not have as much of an impact on staff or lessons,” ASL teacher Lea Clark said.
This new schedule affects staff throughout the school. “Over the course of April, there have been at least a handful of times that I have had to re-arrange something in my lesson plans because I don’t see one period half the week, but I see another period every day, so they aren’t aligned in what I’m teaching. I have to move things around to make sure everyone is being taught the same thing at the same time, and what to assign for homework if that won’t work,” Clark said.
Teachers who only work part-time may have to come into school all day. “As a part-time teacher, I am not scheduled to come to Wootton at 7:45 a.m.; yet, the block schedule requires me to do so 50% of the time. This is an added stress on me and my family to make that schedule adjustment. While this is a personal example of how the schedule affects me, I am not the only part-time teacher in the school, and therefore, I am not the only one in this position,” English teacher Emily David said.
Students have also been affected by this schedule. “It’s a weird schedule because I get super long morning classes, not afternoon ones, so it’s off balance. It doesn’t make much sense,” junior Roshali Abeywarna said.
