At the start of the 2025-2026 school year, Blackman High School decided to move from the even-odd schedule to the 4×4 schedule which has caused different reactions to the new schedule.
On the 4×4 schedule students only have four classes per semester of school. The semesters are split into fall and spring semesters. Each class is still counted as a full credit class since students meet daily and show up for the same number of days per class. Half credit classes also still exist.
This new schedule was implemented to give students less work per semester and give students the opportunity to make up classes without disrupting their ability to graduate on time. A student could take a class in the fall semester, then retake it in the spring semester if they failed the original class in the fall.
Because Blackman already was using a block schedule where the classes were 84-85 minutes, the start times and class lengths are the same. Students, however, have explained that they feel that there is a difference in how the classes feel and the pacing. Many students have explained that they prefer the 4×4 schedule since they have fewer classes. However, now the classes feel very fast-paced.
“I think it’s good and bad,” Junior Antara Vaishnavi said, “because I have less classes to focus on but bad cause it’s going super-fast-paced.”
Other students have expressed that they like the original even-odd or A-B schedule better because of the every-other-day routine. You would only go to four classes one day then a set of four new classes the next; this repeated every day of the week.
Junior Ethan Kirk says, “I like the even-odd schedule more, that way I could have a buffer day for homework and see more people.”
The new schedule will have a unique effect on AP classes. AP exams are still only happening in May, even if students are taking their AP classes in the fall semester. To prepare for this, AP teachers are thinking about doing study sessions for their fall semester students so they can review the material before they take their AP exam after a semester of not being in the class.
As the school year continues, opinions over the new schedule are sure to change. Last year when students were first introduced to the idea, opinions were very negative, but now that the schedule is in practice, opinions have become mixed.
