design: Nathan Chow
The new OOHS flex period will take place every Thursday and will allow students to have a built-in weekly study hall. This will make time for students and teachers to catch up on missing work, conduct group meetings, and get any needed academic help.
This class period is aimed to help every student with anything that they need.
“When something like this goes in place, we tend to think it’s only for students who struggle with grades but every student needs to have the opportunity to get some help through the year. Even the best students sometimes need extra assistance.” OOHS Principal Monica Asher said.
While this new flex period is being advertised as a study hall, it’s not limited to academic use.
“It’s not just academics. Maybe it’s time to meet with your counselor or with a club. We have so many students in so many extracurriculars that we need time to meet.” Asher said.
Unlike most classes at the high school, this new flex period will give students complete free range.
“In this time period you get to choose how you use it. We rarely get to give students time to do what they want to do. The problem is we don’t give students practice to do what they want and need to do. It gives you the opportunity to learn how to make decisions based on your own priorities.” Asher said.
The new flex period takes place every Thursday for 30 minutes following the second period.
“The reason we are starting once a week is because we are starting small and then evaluating. We may get to the end of the school year and receive great feedback and extend it a day or vice versa. Starting with one day a week allows us to do this on a small scale. Based on how students use this time we might extend or minimize the frequency of these flex periods,” Asher said.
The new flex periods happen on a regular basis from now until the rest of the year, unlike the previous sporadically placed “homebase” periods.
“We’re stepping away and rebranding from the old homebase. When I think about predictability with the schedule when the old home base would happen occasionally it would be hard to remember your schedule. This time once a week allows people to get used to it.” Asher said.
The new flex period utilizes QR codes outside of every classroom to track data on where students are going during this time period.
“QR codes track how students use it where they’re signing out and in. For example, if I notice there are a lot of kids signing out to math for example then we probably need to figure out what we need to do to create room for math in the schedule.” Asher said.
Many students, extra-curricular clubs, and teachers have already started mapping out their future plans involving this period.
“Pioneer Ambassadors have already scheduled five times to meet with freshmen, something that hasn’t been able to happen in years past. I’ve also already had teachers sign up for things they want to do at that time whether it’s Science Olympiad, Class Cabinet or National Honors Society.” Asher said.
“I will be using the flex period to help me in classes in struggling and to ask my teachers for help when needed,” sophomore Carson Ensign said.
