A new daily schedule that could change the daily routine of students and teachers alike has been proposed by math teacher Mike Gardetto.  

This new schedule is a new version of the daily bell schedule that features a longer lunch to those that are doing well in school. The schedule is called an Intervention Bell Schedule, that is currently being used at Rocklin High School and is also a slightly different version of that used at Bear River. The main reason for the schedule is to help students that are struggling with their academics and hopefully be able to raise their grades and make Placer High School a strong academic school.

Mondays at Placer would feature the PLC (Professional Learning Community) schedule and it would be slightly changed so that rather than getting out of school early would not be required to show up to school until 9:00 A.M. The day would then continue until the normal school day’s end at 2:39. In fact this has been requested by many at Placer in the past.

From Tuesday to Friday Placer would operate on the Intervention Bell Schedule. This schedule would take ten minutes from each class, which are currently ninety minutes long, to make four normal classes that are eighty minutes each. Where do those forty minutes go? Many students favorite part of the day: lunch. The new schedule would create what is called a Plus Period which is a thirty-two minute intervention period from 12:04 till 12:36. From Tuesday through Thursday all students would report at the beginning of the plus period to the corresponding class to take roll. If a student is not on the plus list, they are dismissed for a lunch that is over an hour long.

“Students getting no credits don’t come in [at lunch], students with As and Bs come in for help,” stated Mike Gardetto. This is one very important thing that must be looked at since it appears that the struggling students with poor grades do not put out the effort to come in at lunch and work at improving their grades; instead effort must be mandated to see positive results.  

Imagine this: a student is taking World Studies in first period and has an A; in second period, they are taking Geometry and have a No Credit; in third period, they are taking Art and have a B; and in fourth period, they are taking P.E. and have a C. During Plus Period on Tuesday, the student reports to their World Studies class and must stay and work on homework. Then on Wednesday, the students reports to Geometry and, again, must stay to work on homework. This continues every Tuesday through Friday until they can get their grades up to at least a C in all classes. Once that standard is reached, the student is then allowed to take part in a lunch that is much longer than currently instituted. If another student has the same schedule but at least a C in all classes,  they must do is report to their plus period teacher and have roll taken; then they can enjoy an extended lunch. So the new system has the biggest incentive that students can all agree on: a longer lunch.   

Whether or not this new schedule is adopted by Placer High School it must be looked at due to the positive results that are possible through helping struggling students become successful in school. With the possibility of being on the verge of state control, due to the school’s poor Star Test results, Placer must look at the possibilities and benefits of switching to a different bell schedule that creates the opportunity for students to achieve higher academically.