The sound bite echoed through the Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) system last year when the school board adopted the Hybrid High School Master Schedule. The new schedule was implemented at all division high schools beginning in September, while corresponding adjustments to middle and elementary school dismissal times were also implemented.

According to VBCPS.com, the high school schedule needed to be adjusted, as the former schedule did not offer students room to meet new state mandated graduation requirements. This new schedule has added fifteen minutes to the high school students’ day and enables all students to have a lunch block daily, regardless of the number of courses they take. Now students will take six to eight classes and up to thirty two credits over four years.

Thus, in order for all students to have a lunch, take more electives, and increase on time graduation rates, VBCPS decided to make changes to the current A/B block schedule.

The high school master schedule has currently been redesigned as a hybrid 4×4 schedule, following Chesapeake Public School’s 4×4 schedule. The hybrid schedule is still an A/B schedule in which students take between six and eight classes a school year. Under this new adopted schedule, though, only a handful of select core courses including: English 9-12, US History, Government, Earth Science, Biology, Algebra, and Geometry would be taught using a 4×4 schedule. This change was implemented to allow students to recover credits during the school year and to increase on-time graduation.

“The purpose of this new master schedule is to help students recover high school credits in classes which they have failed in order to maintain their on-time graduation,” Assistant Principal Chris Colden said. “Semester classes will cover year courses, but they will be taken five days a week. Here at Cox, there won’t be any 4×4 courses available because of the low number of students who actually failed those courses.”

VBCPS may not have anticipated that most schools in the district could not fully follow the new 4×4 Hybrid schedule, as the on time graduation rate is higher than average and many students don’t need the extra remediation, leaving students torn regarding the new schedule.

“I like it [new schedule] because I go to lunch both days and get out at 12:05, but I don’t like the sizes of the lunches because there are fewer seats. I don’t like how crowded the lunches have become either. Also, I don’t like the longer school days,” senior Connor Harrington said.

Yet not all the students feel the same way.

“The bells can get confusing, but it’s kind of cool, I guess, because I don’t have to miss lunch to leave for Governor’s School like I did last year,” junior Madeline Brass said.

Newly appointed Head Guidance Counselor Robert Marlin came to the school from Salem High School.

“I have two schools’ perspectives. Salem High School was expecting a true 4×4 schedule, but then found out not every school has them as Salem and Cox are two of the schools who don’t have a true 4×4.  Actually, I don’t believe any school in Virginia Beach is following a true 4×4,” Marlin said.

A true 4×4 schedule implements the idea that teachers teach six classes and that all students have a lunch. The hybrid 4×4 schedule offers all students a lunch, but thus far, seems to confuse students and overwhelm teachers.

“I favor either a true 4×4 schedule or the old block scheduling. Also, I favor every student being able to get a lunch,” Marlin said. “But, I feel that third block isn’t getting enough instruction due to all of the commotion from students coming and going to lunch.”