Abbotsford – For the 2020-21 school year, all of high schools in the Abbotsford School District #34 will adopt a quarterly schedule. This is different from our typical two-semester schedule, where students have four or five classes per semester. The quarterly system involves students taking fewer classes at any one time.
This concept is being watched closely by other districts in the Province as the COVID concerns will remain when students go back to school come September.
In a nutshell — only two classes per quarter instead of doing a two semester year. One class in the morning, one in the afternoon. FVN has reached out to the Chilliwack School District on this issue and will this be an option.
Rohan Arul-pragasam, Interim Superintendent for Chilliwack School District told FVN: The proposed quarter system in Abby is called the “Copernican” schedule and is not a new system as it has been around for a while, and some districts already run it. It has its pros and cons. Sardis Secondary will be running the quarter system with the ability to pivot back to the semester system if required next year. The other two high schools will be running linear and semester classes.
Website is here: abbyschools.ca
How does a quarterly schedule works?
Students would take two courses at a time:
- students may take one subject in the morning and the other in the afternoon, or both subjects in the afternoon.
- students will continue to receive the same amount of instructional time as they did in a two-semester schedule, but it will be a blend of online learning and in-class activities/extensions.
- in-person classes will vary in time according to the respective school.
Why introducing a quarterly semester schedule?
This change is being introduced because it will:
- help give high schools and students more flexibility to transition between stages during the school year if the COVID-19 pandemic evolves;
- allow students to focus on fewer subjects at any one time, which will help ease the transition if schools have to move through the various pandemic stages, while facilitating at-home learning; and
- facilitate stronger relationships between students and teachers that will enhance social-emotional well-being.
Some high schools may have slight variations to this schedule. Parents and students can expect correspondence from their school in August detailing how they plan to deliver programming that fits the needs of their school community.
Where can families find more information?
Families who have questions about what the quarterly schedule will look like for their child should:
- review the school correspondence that will be sent to them by mid-August;
- visit the website of their child’s school; and
- contact their child’s high school during the week prior to school start up.
