Know Your Purpose and Center It in Your Scheduling

“A school’s schedule should reflect its values, priorities and beliefs about teaching and what is best for student learning and the development of a whole child. Courage and boldness are needed to align a school schedule from a place of priorities.”  From Lena Kushnir in “Schools Schedules That Reflect Values and Priorities”

The master schedule and bell schedule should be a reflection of your school’s purpose, to the point that an educator unfamiliar with your school could look at your schedules and discern key elements of your school’s purpose, what you value and what you don’t value as much. Scheduling with intention requires that schools first get clear about your desired outcomes for all learners and align around how you plan to get them there. Once you have clarity on these outcomes the work of scheduling can begin as you start to build coherence between scheduling, desired outcomes, and your school purpose.

As you consider changes to your school schedule to better reflect your mission and purpose and center student learning, think strategically about how to include stakeholder voices in authentic ways in this process. Including a diversity of perspectives in the process can ensure that your schedule reflects both your vision and your unique community.

Keys to Success: Clear, Meaningful Mission and Vision • Structures to Support Collaborative Planning • Authentic Involvement from Leadership • Integration of Stakeholder Voices Early and Often

Know Your Purpose and Center It in Your Scheduling