As a result of the extended school day, several changes have been made to personal learning time (PLT) and club scheduling this year. With the additional 20 minutes added, PLT has now nearly doubled in time, allowing adjustments to be set in place. 

Last year, club meetings were able to run four days a week for 25 minutes each day. Now, club meetings are broken up by day of the week. On Mondays and Fridays, English and science clubs will take place. On Wednesdays, math, social studies and unified arts club meetings will commence. 

“It’s different how we offer clubs, and how that looks will just depend on the sponsor,” Mr. Stephen Mott, high school principal, said. Every club sponsor will choose what days they host meetings as well as how long they’ll run for. 

Additionally, Keystone remediation times will occur during PLT. Tuesdays will provide algebra, Wednesdays will be language arts and Thursdays will provide biology remediation sessions. 

“The biggest thing for me was that we needed to add Keystone remediation for students that didn’t earn a score that was proficient or advanced,” Mott said. 

“We’re just making sure that they have the opportunity to kind of go through the material just so whenever they go through and do that retake in December, they’re prepared,” Mott, along with the several other administrators, hope remediation classes will help students pass their exams. 

To help accommodate Keystone remediation, PLT teachers are situated differently than last year. Prior to this year, students in their PLT were administered by only one teacher. Now, PLT teachers are working in pairs. Without this change, teachers with remediation classes would be unable to take care of their PLT students. The new model allows teachers to occupy their students efficiently. 

“So many people are being pulled in so many different directions, so making sure that someone is always assigned to students was important to me,” Mott said. 

Another change being made to PLT this year is the addition of physical education (P.E.) make-up times. If a student is absent during their P.E. class, they have the opportunity to make-up their excersices to earn back missing points during PLT on Tuesdays every week. Prior to this year, students only had the chance to make-up their points before or after school. 

According to Mott, the new implementation of changes in PLT and club meetings were made in hopes of giving students opportunities for a more productive use of their time, as well as the opportunities to make up for work and exams. Though it’s early in the school year, Mott believes the changes are working well and does not anticipate any changes in the future.