Need Advice on a High School senior year timetable.

[Pavan]

Hello, I have a story in mind, and before I start, I want to have a senior schedule.
The classes I am thinking they will take are
AP Calaulas
AP Spanich
AP Literature
AP biology
AP Government/ Econ

How would they go in a timetable. Mon - Fri.

I would love all the advice I can get PLEASE.

Thank you all. xxx

[[deleted user]]

LOL, shaking head. At 60, I would suggest to find a kid doing it, and grab their schedule.

[Pavan]

Morris wrote: "LOL, shaking head. At 60, I would suggest to find a kid doing it, and grab their schedule."
LOL thank you

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

It's been a while since I was in high school. But, from what I recall, the classes were about fifty minutes long, leaving ten minutes between to get to the next class. Classes were offered at various times in the day so you could take the ones you wanted.

We had homeroom first, for fifteen minutes, then five minutes to get to the first class.

So, I think my schedule looked a bit like this:
8:30 am - Homeroom
8:50 am - English (Literature)
* 9:50 am - Phys. Ed. / Music (Chorus)
10:50 am - Spanish
11:50 am - Independent Art
12:50 pm - Lunch
1:20 pm - Band
2:20 pm - Government
** 3:20 pm - Drafting (Architectural)

* PE was on Mon., Wed., Fri. and Chorus was Tues. and Thurs.

** I dropped this class after a couple of weeks for some reason - probably just wanted to get out of school early.

You could plug the classes your characters take into a similar schedule, in any order that makes sense for the story.

[Pavan]

Dwayne wrote: "It's been a while since I was in high school. But, from what I recall, the classes were about fifty minutes long, leaving ten minutes between to get to the next class. Classes were offered at vario..."

Thank you so much for this, it helps :)

[Christina]

High school for me had 4 classes per semester and homeroom was considered to be whichever class you had first. Final year I actually had a semester with 3 classes and a spare, since I had enough credits. There were 5 minutes in between each class.

I can't remember the exact timing, but I think it was something like:

8:20-8:25 Homeroom
8:25-9:40 Calculus
9:45-11:00 Art
11:05-12:20 Lunch
12:25-1:40 Accounting
1:45-3:00 English

I have a feeling the timing might be off a bit, but something like that.

[J. Daniel, Lurking since 2015]

Seems like an awful lot of AP classes. I took 3 AP classes my senior year (Biology, English, and History) and that was considered a fairly heavy load. Granted, it was twenty years ago, but still, with your schedule I gotta think you would have one stressed/tired senior.

You'll also need an elective in there - I did debate for three years and drama my senior year.

I think Dwayne's schedule is pretty good, but classes around here start at 7:55AM.

[Bernard]

You might want to add a "Study Hall" or mandatory Library period. It suggests a level of "independent learning" found in private schools that has been adopted by some of our public schools.

[Pavan]

Thank you all for this amazing feedback. Got some great answer and I'll make up a plan x

[Riley, Viking Extraordinaire]

I haven't been in high school in ten years or so, but when I went, I had 4 classes a semester. 8 for the year. A lot of AP classes weren't unheard of, but each class was 2 hours long.

[Alicia]

I've taught/subbed in 4 different high schools. The big thing is that each school had a different schedule and there was no guarantee that any of them would have the same schedule, even high schools in the same district. In fact one school has changed every year since I started subbing there and is currently alternating days. Even block schedules (4 classes) varied from 80-95 minutes. Time between classes from 5-7 minutes. Let's not forget start times and lunch shifts...

I'd suggest going to the school website (or any school website) of the school you are modeling your school after and checking out their schedule.

Also check out their course catalog (if it's posted - sometimes they are, sometimes they aren't, sometimes a general faculty search can strike gold) and it'll give you some non-AP class ideas for your student and his/her classmates.

[Pavan]

A.J. wrote: "I've taught/subbed in 4 different high schools. The big thing is that each school had a different schedule and there was no guarantee that any of them would have the same schedule, even high school..."

Thank you so much for this I will have a look at a website now x

[Jens]

My niece is a senior in high school and takes AP classes, so I have recent vicarious experience in this department.

Five AP classes at one time is a lot, unless your character slacked off the first three years of high school and needs to make up some lost ground. Otherwise, your character probably took some of those classes before his/her senior year.

Some of those classes would only last one semester. I'm 99 percent sure my niece's AP government class was just one semester. A literature class is typically one semester, and then the student takes some other type of English class the following semester. For example, they might take AP American literature in the spring of their junior year and then take AP English literature or a writing course in the fall of their senior year.

You might want to add some elective courses to your character's schedule-- band or orchestra, choir, art, or an academic elective like creative writing or drama or computer coding.

Check the websites for various high schools. Sometimes they post schedules or course catalogs online. You might find something specific that will work for your story.

Hope this helps.

[Clare]

I've been teaching High School for the last nine years. Dwayne is correct that schedules are often about 50-55 minutes per class with 5-10 minutes passing period. That is if the school is following a traditional every class/every day schedule. Many schools operate on Block scheduling (e.g. 3 classes each day for two hours) or trimesters where they may not have as many classes at once.

In a traditional schedule students would typically take six classes a day. All five of the AP classes you list are things that a student might reasonably leave until senior year, but only the most ambitious students take that many APs at once. AP Gov't and Econ are each one semester, but at some schools you sign up for them together as a year long class. You do need at least one more class to fill out the schedule - that might be a performing art, a visual art, maybe school government, journalism, or an additional academic subject. They might also do sports after school or some other extracurricular activity.

[Pavan]

Pavan wrote: "A.J. wrote: "I've taught/subbed in 4 different high schools. The big thing is that each school had a different schedule and there was no guarantee that any of them would have the same schedule, eve..."

Thank you so much for this x

[Pavan]

Jens wrote: "My niece is a senior in high school and takes AP classes, so I have recent vicarious experience in this department.

Five AP classes at one time is a lot, unless your character slacked off the firs..."

Thank you xx

[P.B.]

I'd suggest setting a good time of day for you to write, for even a brief period of time. Perhaps early in the morning before school. Also, carry a simple 3x5 notepad with you and jot down ideas for your story,
perhaps during the times when the class sessions become boring. Don't forget to have some fun in high school!

[Sam]

I had 9 periods, 1 lunch, 1 gym/study hall, so 7 total classes. They included a mix of AP and general classes like health or electives like psychology.
To me, your list is fine.