One thing Canyon is known for is their block schedule. Block schedule has been becoming increasingly popular in high schools though. It is similar to college schedules, so some argue it better prepares students for college life. Although all period schedules are more traditional, block schedules are better in many ways.

There are many pros to consider when talking about block schedules. Block schedules allow students to focus on their classes more because there are less in a day. It is easier for them because they will only need to worry about 3-4 classes a day instead of 7-8. The classes are also longer, which allows teachers to go more in depth into the topic because they aren’t in a time crunch. This also prepares students for college classes, which are normally 1.5-3 hours.

 At Canyon, each block class is 100 minutes or 1 hour and 40 minutes. Since most classes are 1.5 hours in college, it is an easy adjustment for students. Block schedule prepares students’ attention spans for college because they are already used to long classes. Block schedule also allows students more time for homework. Since block classes are every other day, students have two days to get their homework done. Also, they only get homework from 4 classes instead of 8 classes and they have more time to complete it. Whereas, all period schedules give 8 classes worth of homework everyday and it is due the next day.

Some cons of block schedules are that it is hard for students to focus for a lengthy amount of time. In rebuttal, it is better to prepare students for college and they can learn to focus for that amount of time. Some like the tradition of 8 classes a day. An 8 class schedule would mean less breaks between classes, so students would go from one class to another without a time to rest. At Canyon, there is a break between every class. This allows students to rest and be ready for their next class. A former Canyon student said, “My college classes are very long and it was nice already being used to longer classes and the adjustment was easy”.