On Mar. 4, Redwood Middle School Principal Kristina Keener proposed a new bell schedule for the upcoming 2026-2027 school year at a CVUSD school board meeting.
As part of the proposed plan, Monday and Thursdays will follow the same bell schedule and there will be early dismissal on Friday at 1:40 p.m, according to Redwood’s website. On every Friday, there will be a designated time for Redwood Intervention, Support and Enrichment [RISE], a teacher-driven series of activities that ensure students are in a good spot academically.
Additional changes to the schedule include the removal of CPT Tuesdays and advisory days on Wednesday and Thursdays, allowing for a more predictable routine. A periods, optional morning classes featuring electives such as band and choir, will now start at 8:08 a.m instead of 7:55 a.m.
The idea of a new schedule was initially presented at staff meetings in the fall of 2024, driven by a team of teachers who participated in Center for Advanced Professional Studies [CAPS] training. The discussions started because teachers wanted more opportunities throughout the school day to provide students enrichment and support. Teachers also hoped for a schedule that would better align A periods minutes with period 1-6 classes. “The CAPS team brought some wonderful ideas,” Keener said. We started talking about how we can better intervene and give teachers more control over that intervention.”
During the proposal, Keener emphasized the fact that making the small but beneficial changes to the schedule will help student support and intervention become more intentional and regular. “We currently have [student intervention] through our advisory, which is twice a week. But we thought there was an opportunity to be more intentional by giving teachers more of that leadership control role to provide intervention that they felt was appropriate and specific for their class,” Keener said.
To make the transition from the current schedule to the new one as smooth as possible, Redwood staff is planning for what they want to accomplish by June of this year. Teacher training will be held on what RISE Fridays will look like, as well as a guide for structured interventions and enrichment that will help staff who need it. “We’ll be continuing to communicate on a weekly basis regarding the schedule, making sure we’re all on the same page as we move forward. And that is where we’re going in Vikingville,” Keener said.