Kalamazoo Public Schools have been operating on a three-trimester schedule for fifteen years. With the anticipated switch to a semester schedule beginning in fall of 2025, teachers, administrators, and counselors are scrambling to figure out what schedules are going to look like in the fall and what changes students should prepare themselves for.
While the technicalities of the switch are being worked out by administrators, counselors try to keep up with the newest updates to see what can be done on their end.
“There are still uncertainties and things that we need to figure out from a scheduling standpoint that I feel like we are not going to find out until August,” said counselor Becky Parsons. “It’s just the little things and making sure that we’ve got everything in place so that it can be the smoothest transition for students.”
One of the biggest changes that counselors must adapt to is how everyone’s schedule is going to fit together. On semesters, students will be taking fourteen classes a year, as opposed to fifteen classes per year on trimesters. On top of this, most students will be taking a seminar period each semester.
A seminar period functions like a study hall, in which students will have the opportunity to catch up on missing work, do homework or take time to relax if they have no work to do.
“It’s overall just going to be tighter,” said counselor Natalie Washington. “If you take the seminar, that’s three fewer classes that you can have, so three fewer electives for most students. That might be a little bit challenging.”
To help with this switch, the required credits to graduate will be bumped down from 26 to 24. In addition, there may be a process to opt out of having a seminar period. This may be helpful if a student doesn’t have enough time in their schedule to meet all of their elective requirements.
With all of the small changes being made to piece together next year’s schedule, counselors were required to secure course requests from students at the end of March, when they typically have through mid-May. As a result, their usual work has been delayed by six weeks.
Regardless, Stephanie Perry, dean of students, is hoping to have a finished master schedule by the end of May. From there, counselors will be able to work individually with students to iron out any scheduling changes they may need.
“Everybody understands that we are behind schedule and that we are doing what we can to get it back to where it needs to be,” said Parsons. “Administration has its things that it needs to deal with, especially Mrs. Perry, who builds the master schedule so that we can then go in and make sure that all schedules are correct. That’s a huge task. We all have a shortened amount of time to do what needs to be done.”
Another concern is whether PowerSchool will be able to effectively manage the change. PowerSchool is the student information system that KPS uses for scheduling. Two years ago, KPS switched from a different student information system called ESchool to PowerSchool, and with that change came technical difficulties that made scheduling difficult for counselors.
“I’m still a little jaded from that transition,” said Parsons. “A ton of work is being done on the back end to move Power School from trimesters to semesters, but technology doesn’t always work. I don’t know that I’m confident in the system.”
In addition to the concerns of counselors, students have also expressed worries regarding the switch. According to Knight Life, 57% of students would prefer staying on a five-period trimester schedule.
“There have been some students who have come to me who find it frustrating,” said counselor Matt Ray. “I think they’re mostly concerned about what it’s gonna look like, how it’s going to affect things, and if they can still get everything done in time. So it’s more like just vague questions, and because we don’t have the answers exactly, it leaves it kind of open and uncertain.”
However, counselors are confident that the switch will benefit students and don’t expect the workload to be heavier.
According to Washington, fitting classroom material into 18 weeks instead of 12 should balance out the workload of having an extra class. For students who dual enroll at Kalamazoo Valley Community College or Western Michigan University, the switch will allow their high school schedules to be more aligned with their college schedules. On trimesters, students beginning a second semester class at KVCC or WMU would already be halfway into trimester two at their high school. Following the switch, semesters will begin and end at roughly the same time as KVCC and WMU, making it less complicated for the student and easier for their counselor to fit into their schedule.
“Getting on a similar schedule as KVCC and WMU will make it a lot easier to schedule students,” said Ray. “I want to see more of my students do dual enrollment, and this is the right move for that.”
While the process of switching from trimesters to semesters has been frustrating and unclear, things look good for the future. Counselors are confident that scheduling will go smoothly in the fall and will continue to go well throughout the school year.
“We’re going to adjust well,” said Ray. “We’re adaptive and flexible, even if some things aren’t clear here in this building right now. Just take a deep breath – it’s okay.”
