School teams can use a myriad tactical schedule solutions to meet their priorities. This step is about identifying options, considering trade-offs, understanding staffing implications, and finally selecting options that are the best fit. Understanding the staffing implications of each option and the subsequent potential cost are critical aspects of the review process.After reviewing schedule options, school teams can decide what schedule components they want and can feasibly incorporate into their schedules. When schools have decided on their schedule, they can also draft teacher assignments based on the courses and sections needed with the staffing tool, a particularly helpful feature for secondary school teams. Learn more about various options in school scheduling and their trade-offs in our case studies Reimagining the School Day and School Designs in Action

Dig deeper with our staffing tool to determine the total number and types of teachers needed for various options based on the number of periods, course offerings, and projected enrollment.

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Once school teams reflect on their priorities, consider their options, and select the best schedule components, they can create a master schedule. School teams can begin putting the pieces together with our Elementary and Secondary School Master Scheduling Tools. Beginning with an instructional vision and priorities, this excel tool allows school teams to move through a series of steps on their way to creating a bell schedule, master schedule, teacher assignments, and student assignments that meet school priorities with the available resources. 

Design (Elementary)  Design (Secondary)

One example of building collaborative planning time into the schedule

A high school principal and their design team in a large urban district we recently worked with reflected on their schedule, collected additional staff input, and identified a fewthese scheduling priorities for the upcoming year:

1.   More collaborative planning time for teachers. Teaching teams only had 50 minutes of planning time each week.
2.   Fewer daily courses. The team felt like students were struggling with the workload associated with seven daily courses.
3.   Additional time in certain core subjects. Most students were struggling in ELA and math, so the team felt students would benefit from more time in these subjects relative to others. At the same time, they also wanted to ensure students could participate in the engaging enrichment classes the school had to offer.
   
   

After reviewing several options, the team narrowed their options to one. A block schedule where students would take math and ELA each day and alternate science, social studies, and electives on an A/B schedule. This solution allowed teachers to have almost 90 minutes each week to plan with each other, it reduced the students’ daily course load from seven classes to four, and it allowed students to spend 7,000 more minutes in a subject in which they were struggling over the course of the year.

At the same time, because the new schedule operated on a base of eight periods over two days versus the six daily periods in the current schedule, students could still take enrichment courses. The team recognized that this schedule would be more expensive because it increased teacher planning time, so it converted several non-instructional positions into teaching positions to lessen the impact. Moreover, they also offered professional development over the summer and throughout the year to support teachers in effectively teaching and engaging students for 90-minute blocks.