Students sat in their fifth hours classes on a Friday anticipating the weekend, when Principal Tracy Wilson’s voice came over the intercom. In less than a minute, Wilson had changed the course of the school for years to come. The school would switch to a semester schedule. As soon as the announcement was over, multiple hands shot into the air, seeking answers to questions about the change.

The alterations being made to the schedule and class options were explored and researched by the Futures Committee, a temporary committee formed by 28 staff members last September. After the staff members did their research their recommendations were passed along to Wilson, the central office, the Board of Education, a parent committee and there was also student input at a monthly lunch held by Superintendent Keith Konarska. All final decisions were made by the administration, central office and the Board of Education.

“The main purpose of doing this research was to improve achievement scores of all of our students because we are held to a standard in the state of Michigan of growing our bottom 25 percent achievers at the same rate as our top 25 percent achievers,” Wilson said. “Another purpose was to better prepare our students for post-secondary opportunities whether it be college or career, look at ideas and ways to become more innovative, to enhance our current curriculum, allowing Grand Haven High School to be the best option of a high school on the lakeshore and then finally to be both fiscally responsible and cost effective.”

When considering the schedule for next year, the staff looked at the big picture. Having looked at all of the options, semesters seemed to be the best choice. There will be two 18-week semesters, with six classes each semester. However, students will have the option of taking two nine-week electives instead of a full 18-week course, in a semester. Each nine-week elective would then count as a quarter of a credit.

Due to the change in schedules, the amount of credits required for students to graduate has also changed. The amount required for each grade level is different, and can be checked in the newsletter Wilson sent out, which is linked on the districts website. There are many different reasons why semesters are the best choice.

“What the semester’s schedule allows us to do is slow some things down in our core required classes,” Wilson said.

Many teachers agree with Wilson.

“For math it’s better because it’s 18 weeks instead of 12 weeks,” math teacher Jeff Glamzi said. “You have more time to concentrate on the subject matter rather than hurrying through it.”

Science teacher Dennis Striegle believes semesters will benefit students and teachers.

“I think for many students more lessons, smaller in size, can lead to better understanding and retention,” Striegle said. “Teachers have felt very frantic and very pushed to get a large amount of work done in a relatively short period. And I think if we can extend that out over 18 weeks instead of 12 I think teachers and students will both win.”

A decision was also reached regarding the option of a blended and online learning class. New legislation called 21F just came into play in January 2014, and it states that all students must have the option of taking up to one online course each semester. A class called I Create 360 will be offered next year. It will be run by teachers Chad Jettner, Jeremy Case and Diane Mahacek, and students might work in the classroom some days, and at home on their computers on the other days.

“It’s going to be blended learning, hands on,” Wilson said. “They’re going to be given a business model, they’re going to have to create a marketing plan, a finance plan. It’s going to be pretty intense.”

There is a possibility that a seminar class will be offered in the future. The class would be offered to seniors and would be similar to a college course, where your only grades come from a midterm and final exam, and students could work on a community project. Research will continue, as there are a few different ideas for it.

“I believe that the mission and the vision and the conversation that we had is based on how are we going to ensure that we are preparing our kids in the very best way we can,” Wilson said.