Lowell High School San Francisco: Encyclopedia II - Lowell High School San Francisco - Modular Mod System

Lowell High School San Francisco - Modular Mod System

Lowell High School San Francisco - Overview

Lowell has a unique scheduling system consisting of twenty modules. Originally instituted to alleviate crowding of facilities by having a percentage of students not attending class at any particular time, the system has also allowed for more freedom and choice for Lowell students. Students can schedule classes and still leave time for activities that interest them.

Self-scheduling begins with the second semester of the freshman year. Students learn quickly how to allot time for such activities as student government, club activities, or serving as a teaching assistant (TA).

Some classes meet for 40 minutes daily, some an hour each, and some for a combination of the two. Students will often have modules when they have no class. Several resource centers are available for student use during free mods. Using that free time wisely is an important part of the college preparatory training students receive at Lowell.

Lowell High School San Francisco - Mod Schedule

• Mod 01 - 07:35-07:55
• Mod 02 - 08:00-08:15
• Mod 03 - 08:20-08:40
• Mod 04 - 08:45-09:00
• Mod 05 - 09:05-09:25
• Registry - 09:30-09:40
• Mod 06 - 09:50-10:10
• Mod 07 - 10:15-10:30
• Mod 08 - 10:35-10:55
• Mod 09 - 11:00-11:15
• Mod 10 - 11:20-11:40
• Mod 11 - 11:45-12:05
• Mod 12 - 12:10-12:25
• Mod 13 - 12:30-12:50
• Mod 14 - 12:55-01:10
• Mod 15 - 01:15-01:35
• Mod 16 - 01:40-02:00
• Mod 17 - 02:05-02:20
• Mod 18 - 02:25-02:45
• Mod 19 - 02:50-03:05
• Mod 20 - 03:10-03:30

Lowell High School San Francisco - Class Configurations

• A-code Class: 40 Min Long/day (MTWTHF)
• B-code Class: 65 Min and 40 Min Alternating Days (MW - 65 Min / TTH - 40 Min)
• C-code Class: 65 Min and 40 Min Alternating Days (TTH - 65 Min / MW-40 Min)
• D-code Class: 65 Min Long/day (MTWTHF)

Fridays can be designated Mondays or Tuesdays (determining which classes are long), neutral (all B/C classes are 53 minutes) or special (all classes are shotrter, and 3 and 18 are cancelled).

D-code classes are rarely offered after several past schedule changes. The only D-code class now is Yearbook's 18-20 section.

Lowell High School San Francisco - Special Schedules

Every so often, usually every alternating Friday, a "special schedule" appears. On these days Mod 3 and Mod 18 are canceled. Students who normally have breaks during this time no longer have it. Students who have class during these times end up with a shorter class period. Each Mod is cut back to 15-20 minutes long. The day is shorter, Mod 1 begins at 9:20 and the last mod still ends at 3:30. The reason for these "special schedules" is due to faculty meetings or school rallies. Students are notified of such schedules on the weekly bulletin distributed to every "registry" or homeroom (a class which meets for 10 min. each day to receive news or take the standardized test on the appropriate days) Students in such homerooms are with each other for throughout their high school career.

Piloted in the final months of spring semester 2004 and implemented the following year, "neutral friday" addressed the distribution of B and C type classes on Fridays. Before, there was a running tally of B and C alternations which would eventually be of an equal number at the end of the school year. However, some teachers felt that the distribution was not as equal as was proported. Therefore, the school reached a compromise where instead of switching between B and C type classes each week, they split the "swing mods" (mods 3, 8, 13, and 18), where the B and C difference would generally lie, in half. For example, Mod 3 (which is a popular swing mod) is normally from 8:20-8:40 is split in half so Mod 3B is from 8:20-8:27 and Mod 3C is from 8:33-8:40.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Modular Mod System", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki