Back to school has had a whole new meaning for teachers and students alike over the past year and a half. The COVID-19 pandemic has put a damper on learning, but with vaccinations rolling out for older kids and teens, school is well on its way back to the old normal. 

     For Hellgate, this means back to seven periods a day, but it doesn’t look like we’re the only Missoula County Public High School (MCPS) who has had a change to their schedule post-pandemic.

     According to Hellgate Principal Judson Miller, this schedule change was a collaborative effort between Hellgate, Sentinel, Big Sky and MCPS. Before the COVID-19 pandemic these three schools had completely different schedules, but when the school district began discussing the 2021-2022 school year, they decided it was time for Hellgate, Sentinel and Big Sky to be on the same schedule.

     “There are two reasons for this,” Miller said. “We share a lot of classes, and the district was interested in having bussing schedules match up for things like the Agriculture Center and the Auto Center, and having everyone on one schedule helped our community, our parents, and our bussing.” 

     The new schedule has Missoula high school students going to seven period days on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, and having split block days on Wednesday and Thursday. According to Miller, “It was a compromise. Big Sky had only a block schedule, Sentinel had a schedule similar to this, and Hellgate had a one through seven period day.” This schedule was the perfect compromise. 

     However, some students are still getting used to this new change. One Hellgate student, Nevica McCarvel, has a mixed review of the new schedule. According to McCarvel, switching back to seven period days has been a struggle after getting used to the much longer periods last year. 

     Though it’s not all bad, “I like the mixed schedule,” McCarvel said. “On the block days we get more one-on-one time with our teachers, which is really helpful.” 

     The change of schedule has turned out to be extremely beneficial for the MCPS administration, it has helped with bussing and inter-school scheduling, as well as helping our students get more one-on-one time with their teachers.