Scheduling and Colloquium
Northside has college-like Block Scheduling: classes are 102 min. per block, 51 per half block (most students get half block of lunch, and half block of another class) but meet twice a week: Mondays and Thursdays or Tuesdays and Fridays; classes start at 8:00am, end at 3:30pm; in between each period, there is an 8 minute passing period, during which music (upon request) is (normally) played.
Wednesdays are reserved for a three-hour non-credit class on five-day weeks (except Consumer-Ed, in which credit is given) called Colloquium. Dozens of colloquia are offered, with a wide range of interest such as motorcycle repair, computers, robotics, consumer-education, sewing, quilting, art, photography, paper craft, and Asian calligraphy, and each relates to one specific theme that changes every year. Classes are chosen by students twice a year (every semester, or otherwise it is year-long); availability is dependent on popularity and student's year ranking: seniors get first pick, then juniors, sophomores, and lastly freshmen; all of this is done online, through Sound programming, with student portals opening at 7 am for students to start registering; different dates for different year students. These are the only classes in which students either pass or fail. Colloquium clubs vary from year to year.
Northside recently implemented and utilizes online student programming, in which students access and select their schedules through internet programming for both classes and colloquium. Courses for the upcoming school year are programmed at the end of the first semester of the current school year.
Read more about this topic: Northside College Preparatory High School