With what seems like a million changes rumored to be planned for next year, things may seem a little confusing. The schedule changes have been finalized and veteran Free State students are in for a change.

With shorter classes and more of them, students will have the opportunity to take more electives.

But be prepared for more crowding. With an extra class of students, and 16 to 20 new staff members, according to assistant principal Mike Hill, everyone will be packed in more tightly.

“Wherever you see open space in the hallways, is probably where you’re going to see lockers [next year],” assistant principal Hill said.
Change for Teachers:
Teachers often won’t have a room of their own, but will have to rotate classrooms throughout the day, according to principal Ed West.

Before Winter Break teachers in the district completed a survey to express where they would prefer to work next year. This will help determine which junior high teachers will move up to the high schools and which will stay at the junior high level. However not all new teachers at Free State will necessarily be transferring from junior highs. Teachers may come to Free State from anywhere in the district, including elementary schools, if they have the right certification.
Scheduling Changes:
Scheduling changes for next year mean classes will be shortened from the current hour to 52 minutes on regular days. This will make the seven-period day possible without altering the start and end times.

Late arrival on Wednesdays will start a half hour earlier, at 9 a.m. instead of 9:30.  Luckily Wednesdays will still be only three classes and end a half hour earlier, at 2 p.m.

Thursday schedules have been changed as well to fit the seven period day. Seminar will be removed and replaced with the new class period. By replacing seminar, Thursday will still begin at 8 a.m. and end at 2:30 p.m.
Zero Hour:
There will still be a zero hour offered next year; however, it will mainly be reserved for those who do not take a seventh period. In other words most students will have schedules from zero to six or one to seven. There may be some exceptions though; for example, students who are in Student Council which is only offered zero hour who also want to participate in a class that is only offered seventh hour.
Ninth Graders:
But despite all the scheduling changes taking place next year, the new class of freshmen in classes, hallways and extra curricular activities will likely have the biggest effect on students.

“I think that having ninth graders in the building changes the dynamics a little bit from a maturity standpoint,” West said. “They will adjust.  If we bring them into the high school and they are high school students they’ll act more like high school students, and they’ll have more opportunities as well.”
Student’s Opinion:
Some current Free State students are excited about the opportunity to take more electives while others believe 52 minute classes will be too short.

Junior Michael Guerich is looking forward to having shorter 52 minute classes next year.  However junior Katherine Berger disagrees.  She feels that 52 minutes for each class might be cutting things short.

Current students aren’t the only ones who have been thinking about what next year at Free State will look like. Eighth graders who will be the first  freshmen next year also have to think about what the changes will bring.

Allyson Hertig, an eighth grader at West, is disappointed that she won’t have the chance to be top dog at junior high.

“We don’t get ninth grade formal, and the recognition probably won’t be as good,” Hertig said.

She’s also nervous about coming to high school so soon.

“There’s a pretty big age range between freshmen and seniors in high school,” Hertig said.

But she’s also excited about the new opportunities high school will offer, especially in sports.
With the scheduling changes and new class of students, the dynamics of Free State next year are sure to be different.  Some seniors are glad to be leaving before all of the changes take place but for those of us who are sticking around, it should be an interesting experience.