My daughter is currently applying to high school programs in our school district and we’ve discovered that most of the schools in our area are changing to a 4x4 block schedule where they only take four classes per semester (so, fitting in an entire year of content into one semester, and then moving on to four new classes the following semester).
It looks like one of the schools is not switching to the 4x4 format and instead will stick with eight classes at a time on an AB block rotation the entire year. This is the schedule she currently has, so it feels familiar and we feel we have a good idea of the benefits of this schedule already.
I’m struggling to see the benefits of the 4x4 block schedule and hoping to hear from others with more direct experience of this type of schedule. If my daughter chooses the school with the AB block rotation, she will still take eight classes per year, but just have them all at once. I can understand the argument that the 4x4 schedule allows them to focus more intensely on just four classes at a time, but when it comes to math and language courses, I am truly baffled at the idea of finishing a course in December and then not having another course in that subject until the following year in August (or to finish in May but not have another until January). Math and language both seem like something you need to use regularly throughout high school. And while it may be possible to do two math and language courses in one year with the 4x4 schedule, eventually students would run out of courses to take and then may not have that subject on their schedule for some years on their transcript (i.e. if only four levels of a language are offered, you’re either taking them one semester per year over four years or taking all four in just two years and then have two whole years of high school with no language classes at all).
Another question I have is how do AP exams work with the 4x4 block schedule. I may be incorrect on this, but I think they only give AP exams in May, so if students take an AP course in the fall semester, they have to wait until May to take the exam. While I’m sure it’s possible for students to self-study and retain the knowledge, it seems like it wouldn’t be as beneficial to have that large gap.
Has anyone had students on this 4x4 schedule and how did they fare, especially in math and language coursework? Would you recommend it? Are there any benefits we aren’t seeing? How do colleges look at transcripts with this type of schedule?
Thanks for any insight you can provide!