The class periods at Baldwin High School last around 50 minutes. For classes like Math and English, this is definitely enough time to teach a lesson and let the students work, and they could end up with homework if the lesson goes on too long. But for Science labs and Fine Arts classes, it isn’t enough time to get out all the needed materials and get to cooking or experimenting.

As soon as these students get out the supplies they have around twenty to thirty minutes before having to clean up, most of the time the food in the ovens is not ready. Having a block schedule would help give students more time to work in class without the problem of having homework and it would help the teachers spend less time planning on how many days their classes would spend on an assignment.

If classes were on a block schedule it would help students have a less chance of ending up with homework. Math classes tend to get a new assignment every day, they take notes for the first half of the period and then get to work, depending on the lesson some students could only end up with a few problems done before the bell rings meaning they would get homework. Band and Choir classes would get a longer time to prepare their music for concerts and would be able to get to more pieces of music.

In the Science classes, the teachers could get the students the lab requirements and equipment out and the classes would be able to finish a lab and do follow up classes in one day instead of two or three.

Culinary and Art classes could get out their supplies and work on their projects for more time and then would be able to clean up without the worry of getting barely anything done and not having time to get the food out of the oven before class ends.

Research shows that around 70% of students don’t want to do homework. Work outside of school can lead students to become lazy and struggle with mental health. Most students play sports or have after school activities, they could be getting home late and if they have homework it could lead to less sleep or ignoring the work.

Block scheduling is a solution to short classes for labs and cooking and homework. With a block schedule students would be able to balance classes and outside school activities.