Chapel Hill High School is implementing a new schedule with “flex time” starting Thursday, December 7, to provide students with additional learning and remediation opportunities.
According to the district’s website, “Flex Time is used to provide embedded opportunities for targeted academic interventions and programming, including acceleration, tutorials and enrichment.”
The roughly 50-minute periods will also allow space for independent work, Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) opportunities and even club activities.
Social studies teacher Timothy Campbell shared the potential benefits of flex time. “Students can get caught up on testing, do club days, and teachers will have time to tutor students—all within the framework of the day so students don’t have to come before or after school or during lunch,” he said.
Teachers will be able to work with students on a specific skill or learning objective during flex time.
“In an AP class if a student is struggling with a particular kind of essay they have to write for my exam, being able to focus on students who are struggling with that could be helpful,” English teacher William Schrader said.
Students can sign up for flex time through Edficiency, a web-based platform designed to manage schedules. In order to attend flex time, a student must request to go see a teacher, or a teacher can request a student if the teacher believes it would benefit a student.
Students received training on how to use Edficiency on Monday, December 4.
Some students have concerns about flex time.
“I’m worried about losing class time,” junior Talia Riggsbee said.
Schrader acknowledged Riggsbee’s concern.
“[Flex time does] take away from class time, and you end up with a few hours less per class period at the end of the year,” he said.
Flex time will take place on Thursdays after second period; the “flex block” will run from 10:29-11:20, shortening classes by roughly eight minutes. An extra five minutes will be added for third period for daily announcements.
