Declan Sullivan, now a sophomore at Brattleboro Union High School, is a youth leader with Building a Positive Community’s Brattleboro Area Youth Council.
BRATTLEBORO-I, like other students, was confused and concerned when we heard about large changes coming for our schedule at Brattleboro Union High School.
At the end of last year, we came to find out not only that our schedule for the now-current school year would change in small ways but that the entire foundation of our school’s schedule would switch formats the year after (2027-28).
A semester-based block schedule has students enrolled in four-block, or double-period, classes each day for a semester, and a different four the next semester. In contrast, an AB-block schedule has students enrolled in eight single-block classes all year long, with the first four one day alternating with the different four the next day.
Students find the idea of being enrolled in eight classes at once tiring and the AB format as a whole to be less flexible.
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This huge decision, which was made without any student input, has been immensely unpopular among students, and so, another student, Alex Brown, and I made a petition to keep our schedule.
On the first day, we learned that two other freshmen, Ajax Kolodziej and Nya Lawson-Westfall, were looking to start a petition as well, so we joined forces. For three days the four of us and some additional supporters gathered signatures during lunch, classes, passing time in between classes, and whenever else we could. After only those three days, we had collected just under 250 signatures.
After we decided we had enough signatures, we reached out to Principal Hannah Parker about our concerns. This culminated in a few meetings with her, in which we discussed having two student representatives join the Scheduling Committee, the group that decided to change the schedule format in the first place. We also discussed having students help by visiting schools already using an AB block schedule — specifically, schools with similar demographics to our own school.
As of the end of last year, the Scheduling Committee planned on creating a mixed AB and semester-based schedule format, although they refused to budge on the alleged superiority of an AB semester-based schedule.
Our research has found no consensus on whether semester-based or AB schedules allow students to better retain information.
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As of this year, nothing has changed, and those of us who led the petition effort — let alone the student body at large — have not been informed. Students are more unhappy about the schedule change as it grows closer. They primarily cite issues with alternating classes each day and say that being enrolled in eight classes at a time is causing them anxiety and confusion.
From the student body’s perspective, the school administration’s lack of incorporating student input is part of a concerning trend that our views may not have significant value.
Engaging students, after all, is one of the administration’s stated priorities, and more in-depth consideration for the concerns and input of the student population involving major changes would likely help to create an environment where we could accomplish this goal.
Students, parents, school staff, or community members at large: If you would like to remain informed with the effort, hear the full arguments we have made, or share your opinion on the matter, please reach out to us at buhs.sgcollective@gmail.com.
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