OGDENSBURG — Next fall when students return to Ogdensburg Free Academy, they will have eight classes per day instead of nine.

“The biggest reason is because of the common core,” said high school Principal Cynthia L. Tuttle. “The curriculum is going to be deeper and more rigorous. Any seminar or workshop we attended had presenters who said the common core was going to require more than 38-minute periods.”

To accommodate the change without altering the length of the school day, students’ first-period classes will serve as their homeroom starting next year. Mrs. Tuttle said that change gave the district enough time to lengthen the periods from 38 to 45 minutes.

“This is a win-win for everybody, especially the students, who will be better prepared for their tests, and the teachers, who will have more time to teach the curriculum,” she said.

When presenting the proposal to the Board of Education at its recent meeting, Mrs. Tuttle addressed a few concerns that had been raised about the plan.

“Since I’ve been here, there has always been concerns about students having too many study halls,” she said, countering a concern that students may not have enough time in the day for study.

“Most students should have the opportunity to have a study hall,” she said, adding that students will be required to take six classes per day.

“If they just do the minimum, they could have two,” she said.

Mrs. Tuttle said students who want study halls find ways to get study halls, while other students avoid study halls at all costs.

“It doesn’t matter if there is seven periods in the day or 12, some students will fill up their schedule,” she said.

The reduction of one class period per day also led to the reduction of a planning period for teachers in the high school, who will now have only one planning period instead of two, she said, adding that teachers at the elementary level receive only one planning period each day.

Under the plan, which will be implemented with the start of the new school year, the day will still begin at 7:51 a.m. It will end at 2:53 p.m., five minutes later than this past year.

The new schedule also might lead to some scheduling conflicts, but Mrs. Tuttle said that even with a nine-period day, scheduling conflicts would be inevitable.

“It’s never going to be perfect,” she said. “The students’ needs are always met and their wants are almost always met.”

Mrs. Tuttle also noted that this is not the first time OFA will operate with an eight-period day, noting the switch to a nine-period day was made prior to the 2001-02 school year.

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