Changes to Muskie Time

As the new school year has settled in you may have noticed one of the major changes to MHS is Muskie Time. Muskie Time has always been an asset here at MHS, a thirty-minute block given to students for various reasons such as clubs, activities, tutoring, studying, extra help, etc. 

This year Muskie Time has been adjusted to be on Tuesdays and Thursdays as opposed to previous years where it was every day. Due to this, there are two separate schedules for days with and days without Muskie Time.

Without muskie time around five minutes is added to each class including lunch. For upperclassmen that leave early on days without Muskie Time leave around ten minutes earlier. 

“As our Building Leadership team began looking at the data of our students(grades, absences, tardies, state achievement data, etc.) we felt that we needed to provide more in-class time for teachers to address the needs of our students.  Additionally, we were running into issues with students not using Muskie Time appropriately and not using the time to actually improve their academic success,” said Mr. Castle, Principal at MHS.

Although Muskie Time was designed to create more opportunities for students to get help to succeed it met issues when students weren’t utilizing it properly.

“I feel that we have had the opportunity to be more focused on academics during muskie time and the extra time devoted to the class periods. We don’t have as many discipline problems during that time period which also helps our team to focus on other areas of need,” said Mr. Castle. 

The changes to Muskie Time have been met with primarily success but there have been a few hiccups along the way. 

“I think the biggest issue so far has been the impact going to fewer days of Muskie Time has had on our clubs and activities.  Many of our clubs used Muskie Time to meet with students and now that has been impacted.  However, in the end, we need to focus on academics first,” said Mr. Castle. 

This isn’t necessarily the final edition of Muskie Time so students shouldn’t expect it to stay the same. 

“I think that most people are still trying to learn the new system, I know that we will need to make some tweaks, but overall, it has been received in a positive way,” said Mr. Castle, “We are going to continue to look at what is working and what needs improvement.  The goal is to be able to provide students with everything they need to be successful.”

The future for Muskie Time is unclear at the moment but for now, this seems to be the way to go. 

In addition to day changes, there has also been a switch from the adaptive scheduler to smart pass. Rather than checking PowerSchool to see where they are requested, students must check their scheduled smart passes to see if a teacher requested them otherwise they must stay in their second-period class. 

There have been a lot of scheduling changes but students are adjusting well to the recent changes. What do you think about the changes? Let us know!