With our trimester schedule, there are fifteen course blocks available over the course of the year (five blocks each trimester). During the 2006-2007 academic year, students were allowed to sign up for courses during fourteen of those blocks. This left one block for a study hall or community service. During the 2007-2008 academic year, this requirement will continue.

We had planned on requiring two blocks of study in order to cut costs but recently the School Committee has voted additional funding for elective courses. This means that students now need to update their course request forms in order to sign up for an additional course block.

Seniors may choose to meet the study hall requirement by participating in the Senior Year Option program, which allows them to leave the school building early in order to do community based learning.

Some students meet the study hall requirement by their participation in one of these programs:

* Academic Support (special education)
* Project Challenge
* Prep Academy
* English or Math Study Center
* Reading
* Pre-Algebra (all three trimesters)

These students do not need to sign up for a study hall.

For students who take part in our music program, the study halls work out a little differently. The music ensembles meet during all three trimesters. They don’t meet every day, however. Instead, the ensembles meet three days a week while students go to study hall the other two days of the week. When a student signs up for an ensemble, this counts as two of the fourteen allowable course blocks, and as one study hall block which meets the requirement of one study hall.

Assistant Principal Annie Leonard is in charge of the master schedule at ARHS.

SOURCE: http://www.arps.org/hs/FAQ/