One of the great aspects of Palos Verdes High School that convinces students to enroll every year is its block schedule. Following a block schedule provides students with countless benefits, such as more time to do schoolwork as well as extracurricular activities.

Without a block schedule, many students would find it challenging to finish their schoolwork and still have time for all the other activities they are involved in. Students would not have that time if they had six classes a day and homework for each of those classes every single day.

For example, I spend just over 11 hours at school and volleyball practice four days of the week. My homework for four classes each day then typically takes me a total of three hours. With about one to two hours for normal everyday activities, I can sleep for up to eight hours. If I had more than four classes a day, managing all of my extracurriculars, academics and health would be very difficult. 

Block schedule also gives students an extra day to complete their work, which reduces stress and allows time for students to ask their teachers for help if they don’t understand the homework before they have to turn it in. 

Although some would say that following a block schedule leaves too much extra time in class for students to waste, block schedule actually allows students time to ask questions and have things explained more in depth if needed because teachers have more time to teach lessons in a two-hour block. 

Because all classes except 0 period have a break after them, whether it’s nutrition, lunch or even after school, you can stay after class to ask your teacher for help since you both have some extra time before the next period starts. In the rare event that lessons do finish early, many students use that time to get a head start on their homework so they have more time for their extracurriculars later in the day.

Block schedule is also more similar to a college schedule. 

In college, students might have a few classes on the same day, but they don’t have all of their classes and labs on the same day. So, following a block schedule is good preparation for a college schedule because it teaches students how to manage their time with only a few classes a day. 

If you are a student who is stressed by the large number of classes you are taking, you will find block schedule very beneficial because you only have to focus on a maximum of four classes a day instead of seven. 

Additionally, it ensures that the chance of having multiple tests on the same day is lower. For all these reasons, PVHS should continue to follow our distinctive block schedule.