An outline of the new schedule for the 2026-27 school year has been shared with faculty. Staff members provided feedback on the proposed schedule during a meeting in room 383 during the Teacher Collaboration period on Thursday, April 16.

The proposed schedule, as of April 16, rotates every six days, with 70-minute classes, five classes per day, and seven-minute passing periods. The schedule includes T-block twice every six days, X-block once and one Teacher Collaboration period.

The schedule planning committee was led by Assistant Head of School Hal Mason, Math Department Chair Josh Paris and School Within a School Coordinator Dan Bresman, and included representatives from every department. They have been working since October on the new schedule. According to Mason, the exact timing, as well as the block structure within the six days, will be finalized in May.

Mason said there were many constraints to making the schedule, such as meeting legal requirements from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, setting up lab blocks for Advanced Placement science classes and ensuring lunch is at a time that works for the Tappan Green Restaurant.

At the schedule planning committee meeting, staff members said they intended to preserve T, X and Z-blocks and return to the seven-minute passing period from the 2024-25 school year.

Mason said students will benefit from having fewer classes a day, which will provide less homework. He emphasized the advantage of a consistent schedule.

“It’s easier to remember what the schedule is. You’ll never be saying, ‘Is this block 65 minutes? Is this block 57 minutes long?’” Mason said. “That’s important for a lot of kids, especially younger kids, that it’s hard to learn the [current] schedule.”

While the six-day rotation could be confusing, Mason said he expects it to be manageable. There will be 15 fewer class meetings per class per year, which Mason said will impact the curricula that teachers have designed.

“It’s going to be a different lesson structure for your teachers. There’ll be some changes that are involved, but there will be four [class meetings] over six days,” Mason said.

According to the schedule planning committee, there are at least eight different options for how specific blocks can be positioned within the schedule.

This is a developing story. Check back for more updates.