Oct. 27, 2025 Editor, The News-Gazette: Earlier this year, Virginia Commonwealth University released a study of all Virginia high schools on the effect of different scheduling systems.
They found that an A/B block schedule, where students take seven-to-eight courses a year as they do now, but take threeto- four classes each day on an alternating rotation rather than all seven, “most consistently predicted favorable student outcomes.” They also found the worst format was a 4x4 class schedule, where students took just four classes a semester, sitting in those same four classes each day.
The administration of RCHS has proposed that they shift to this disastrous 4x4 class schedule, which is most strongly correlated with negative outcomes, for fall of 2026. Why? Because, according to the assistant principal, it will reduce student stress. However, there is no evidence to suggest it will, and lots of evidence that suggests it will harm both students and teachers. Yet, they persist.
Over the past month, in both the Rockbridge County School Board meeting and a parent information session, administrators failed to provide any coherent justification for this change. When asked by parents if a 4x4 works, they did their best impersonation of David Cross in ‘Arrested Development,” replying with various versions of “no, it never does. Those people somehow delude themselves into thinking it might … but … it might work for us!”
RCHS administrators need to stop playing games with our children’s futures.
On Nov. 3 at 5:30 p.m., I will be hosting a forum in the Piovano meeting room of the Rockbridge Regional Library. We will discuss the current high school agreement, its history, and the consequences of 4x4 block scheduling compared with alternatives. All are welcome. PATRICK RHAMEY Lexington
