#22 - Master Schedule

            Creating a master school schedule is like working a 3-D jigsaw puzzle.  With budget constraints looming overhead, building a master school schedule becomes even more important than ever before.  A well planned master school schedule accompanied by thoughtful student placement can ensure that limited staff and resources are used in the most efficient ways possible. 

            When I interviewed the Dean of middle school, Mrs. Manthiram, I discovered that she is responsible for managing and creating the DPA master school schedule.  When I asked her what it takes to complete this task she laughed and sighed and talked about the complexities of this task.  There are many factors that go into making a master schedule including approvals from different sources and coordinating with National Heritage Academies and Wayne County Schools master schedule.

            One of the first things that Mrs. Manthiram mentioned was that the schedule is being worked on almost a year in advanced.  Information must be gathered from several sources regarding national holidays, MEAP and NWEA testing dates, holiday breaks, summer/spring/winter breaks, etc.  This information should be available from NHA and Wayne County in order for Mrs. Manthiram to work on our master schedule.  Once she gathers that data from other sources, then as an administration team, they must come up with dates for professional developments so that those days can be placed as ½ days or days off of school for students. After the dates have been set and the number of school days has been recorded, the master calendar must be brought before the school board for approval.  This approval process takes months of revising before finally it can be officially approved. 

            Another task that Mrs. Manthiram is charged with is the master daily school schedule.  She must coordinate kindergarten through eighth grade classes with specials, lunches, and remember to include transition times too.  The specials team will help with this process as well because it is such a heavy task.  This process of creating the daily schedule is important because it is the timetable that the rest of the school will follow for the rest of the school year.  I learned that creating a Master School Daily and Year-Long Schedule is a huge task that hopefully will have a team of people to help with when the time comes for me to create one.