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THE 2024-25 SONOMA ACADEMY SCHEDULE

REDEFINING EDUCATION

going BEYOND COLLEGE PREP

Daily schedule

We have redesigned the school day and week to create a more balanced approach with ample time for deeper, longer academic blocks, and intentional time for community and individual wellbeing. The daily schedule includes moments for community building, extra help during Office Hours, as well as a 30-60 minute time period (the length of time depends on what students choose to participate in) that occurs around lunch four days per week and creates dedicated time for leadership activities, choir and creative ensemble participation, affinity groups and club meetings, structured study support, athletic and physical wellness activities, as well as some needed homework/socializing time. We have also included our weekly Community Meeting & PS gatherings in this time block.

 

We are also moving to a rotating block schedule reflecting the research that all people have optimal and sub-optimal times of day and that students do best when they are in class during their (and their teachers’!) optimal times. The rotating block schedule ensures that everyone is in different classes at their optimal times and that students do not miss the same class at the end of the day for early sports dismissals or other activities.

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KEY FEATURES OF THE DAILY SCHEDULE:​

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  • 75-minute class blocks.

  • 4 class blocks per day.

  • Class blocks are on a 4-day rotation.

  • Defined 30-minute periods for Office Hours or Advisory.

  • 4x per week Community/Coyote Time (CT) block (30-60 minute period for music, leadership, affinity groups, clubs, structured study support, athletic or physical wellness activities, and Community Meeting).

  • 30-60 minute lunch period (depending on CT activity participation).

  • 1x per week early release day, no CT block on this day, but class blocks remain the same length of time.

OVERVIEW

To discover your true self, to develop a passion for learning that extends beyond grades, to connect with peers across interests, grade-levels, and different backgrounds and experiences, to express gratitude and appreciation to and for one another, to honor different perspectives, and to respect the world around you—these are the values of an SA education and one that prepares our students to lead a purposeful life. 

 

Here, every student is known, seen, and celebrated in becoming and being the best of themselves as an individual. We have designed a new daily and annual schedule that unlocks our ability to allow each student to create an individualized, meaningful pathway of learning, inspired by their interests, passions, and curiosity — all without sacrificing the rigor and quality of our college preparatory curriculum. 

 

In fact, this way of organizing our time strengthens the overall rigor of our college preparatory program, because it provides us with access to more opportunities to delve deeper in programs of study, explore interests with great intention, and challenge themselves in new courses and fields of study.  Thoroughly student-centered and inspired by research on meaningful learning, this schedule is essential to our strategic goal of reimagining education and going beyond the traditional limitations of a “college prep” curriculum and program.  

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This website walks through each element of our new schedule — and the existing and exciting new courses — and provides a deep bank of FAQs as well as research that supports this new approach. Please review everything we have included before submitting a question. If you do have questions that are not answered in this website, please use the submit a question form (you can find this on the menu under "Questions?").

We combine a Rigorous college preparatory FRAMEWORK with a unique 7-MOD calendar
and an innovative approach to curriculum. 

Our academic calendar will be divided into seven mods (or terms) with each mod lasting for 24 instructional days. In each mod, students will take a maximum of four classes. Core college preparatory classes, as well as our advanced studies and seminar courses will generally be scheduled over 3 mods. Each class taken in one mod gives students one credit. Three credits in this system is the equivalent to our current semester-long system and to a full year of instructional hours in a traditional high school calendar.

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KEY FEATURES OF THE MOD SYSTEM

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  • Mods contain 24 instructional days.

  • Core courses, and seminar and Advanced Studies (AS) courses will generally be 3 mods long, some may be 6 mods.

  • 3-mod courses represent an increase in instructional minutes as compared to a semester-long course. 3-mod courses will have approximately 25% more instructional minutes than our current semester-long courses.

  • We have developed approximately 100 additional elective courses that are 1-mod long, allowing for tremendous individualization, exploration, depth and breadth.

  • The 7-mod system spaces out learning, an approach that is supported by the most current research on how teenagers learn best.

  • Based on the way that classes can be sequenced throughout the year, students will have many more options in their schedule to take additional 1- and 3-mod electives, offering students much more choice and flexibility than our current schedule.

  • Students are able to pursue meaningful pathways of learning that explore and deepen interests and passions without sacrificing rigor and while meeting all graduation requirements.

  • Unique, flexible, and individualized schedules and over 100 new courses to choose from mean that no two students will have an identical schedule.

MODS
DAILY SCHEDULE
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