Northwood PTSA fights to keep 4x4 schedules

Parents, students and teachers filed into the Northwood High School cafeteria yesterday, Jan. 11, to voice their concerns to several MCPS officials regarding the decision to replace the 4x4 block scheduling system with an eight-period block schedule. The meeting also allowed MCPS to explain their reasoning behind the decision to institute the new scheduling system.

According to Community Superintendent Don Kress, MCPS originally planned for Northwood to run on an eight-period block schedule, and the institution of the current schedule was a fluke. "The decision was never embedded through the Executive Board," said Kress.

He also noted that the idea of having the 4x4 block scheduling as a pilot program was not instigated by the Executive Board and resulted in a breakdown in communication among MCPS Executive Staff. "Obviously, the community was told it was a pilot program," stated Kress. "It was a breakdown in the process."

Despite the mistake, many parents and teachers from Northwood expressed their frustration in the refusal of MCPS to allow 4x4 scheduling to continue. Parent Christine Gill vouched for retaining the current system because of the positive impact 4x4 scheduling has had on her son's grades. "I saw the difference it made," said Gill. "[My son] choose to come to Northwood because of the 4x4 block."

Blair PTSA co-president Fran Rothstein also joined the discussion and stated that she believes the 4x4 schedule will make Northwood a more attractive school to incoming freshmen, thus relieving some of Blair's overcrowding problems. "I don't want to be in a school with 4,000 students next year," said Rothstein. "It's not just Northwood that wants this to happen."

Rothstein, along with several other parents, accused the board of failing to consider student input and the quality of the students' education when making their decision. "Your interest needs to be in student achievement and student learning," she noted.

Regardless, Director of Curriculum Dale Fulton stated that current research shows that 4x4 block scheduling is just as effective as eight-period block scheduling, the current schedule system for Montgomery County's 24 other high schools. Fulton also noted that MCPS has looked to other districts' experiences with 4x4 schedules and found the eight-period block schedule to be more effective in terms of academic improvement among students.

According to Kress, MCPS also plans to stop the 4x4 scheduling at the beginning of next year because the transition to the eight-period schedule will only concern a small number of students. "It's better to stop it now when only 370 students are affected rather than later when 1,300 are affected," said Kress.

Kress repeated that Northwood is the only high school in the county operating under a 4x4 block schedule, which creates a problem because Northwood students currently are using final exams from the previous year, causing discrepancies within the curriculum. According to Kress, the entire county should be operating in a homogenous manner. "We want to be a school system, not a system of schools," said Kress.

Some parents, however, voiced their concerns regarding the 4x4 schedule and problems associated with condensing year-long courses into a single semester. Although parent and Einstein High School math teacher Linda Shaus approves of the 4x4 scheduling system, she noted several problems that need to be fixed, one of which being the rapid pace of classes. "You cover a new topic every day," commented Shaus. "You need time in between [classes] to think about things."

Shaus also believes that every schedule has problems, and that in this case, the roadblocks could easily be dealt with if the 4x4 schedule remained in place.

Still, many teachers stated that the 4x4 schedule should be given a chance and be embedded properly as a pilot program. Northwood science teacher Monica Lee noted the entire school's willingness to work with MCPS on the 4x4 schedule in order to reap its benefits. She also said that because the classes are condensed into a single semester, textbooks can be reused in place of the county having to pick up the tab for new ones due to increased enrollment. "4x4 is cheaper for the county and is a benefit for the county because we have fewer students at a time," said Lee. "Let us show you what we can do in 10 years."

Lee also noted that the problems associated with the 4x4 schedule could be fixed if Northwood were given the time to properly adjust. She also scolded MCPS for holding a meeting for parent input if the decision could not be reversed. "It's unfair for you to not reconsider," said Lee.

The meeting did end on a positive note, however. In his closing speech, Johnson promised all the parents in the room that students at Northwood will be successful regardless of the situation or schedule. He also called on the parents to cooperate with the county in order to make progress academically. "Work with us as we make changes and develop, and give us the opportunity to move forward," said Johnson. "These students will be successful regardless of the circumstances."

Although no formal statement was made, several of the officers present commented that the decision to stop 4x4 scheduling at Northwood is not irreversible and that they would take the comments made by the entire audience into consideration. Johnson refused to comment on whether or not he approves of the 4x4 block scheduling, stating instead that he will work with any schedule and make it work.