Board approves block scheduling

By: Tracy Bell | Stafford County Sun
Published: April 08, 2009

STAFFORD — The Stafford County School Board voted Tuesday to approve A/B block scheduling in two Stafford County Public Schools.

Six board members voted in favor of the motion, while school board member Patricia Mancini, George Washington District, abstained from the vote. The vote was in relation to Colonial Forge and Stafford high schools.

Earlier in the evening, Mancini expressed some concern over block scheduling.

But when it came time to vote, there was little discussion on the matter Tuesday.

School board member Nanette Kidby, Garrisonville District, said that whether it is in A/B block, 4 by 4 block form or traditional form, if this is what administrators, faculty and students at the schools want, they’ll make it happen with success.

“We have two schools that have a strong desire to go to an A/B block and a lot of forward thinking from the staff and administration. … I have a great deal of confidence in our educators on the front line,” she said.

The A/B block scheduling will begin in the fall of 2009 at Stafford and Colonial Forge high schools.

With A/B block scheduling, students take four classes one day and four different classes the next day, repeating the process for the whole year. The schools are currently on a traditional seven-period day.

The remaining Stafford public schools are on a hybrid block scheduling format — a 4 by 4 schedule in which they take 90-minute classes every day per semester. The next semester, they’ll take a different four classes.

Tracy Bell is managing editor for the Stafford County Sun. Reach her at tbell@staffordcountysun.com.