Going small has advantages. The BIS schedule is designed to maximize student opportunity to earn credits based on State-required seat time.
The Trimester System
BIS operates on a trimester system to provide students with more course offerings in a school year than a traditional semester system. In a traditional semester, seven-period-day system (7 x 2), students have 14 course offerings. In the BIS trimester, five-period-day system (5 x 3), students have 15 course offerings without loss in class seat time!
Additionally, BIS trimesters align closer to the local colleges' quarter system. This generates more opportunities for students to take college classes while enrolled in BIS.
the Five Period Day
Having only five periods in the day simplifies the workload for students. That doesn't mean there is less work, it is just focused on fewer topics. It allows teachers to go into greater depth and students to commit their time to mastering the content of five classes.
Late Start Wednesdays
Every Wednesday school starts an hour later providing BIS teachers the time to meet and collobrate as an entire staff, in grade-level teams, and content-level teams to improve operations and instruction in BIS.
The Mini Course Schedule
About half-way into the trimester, BIS implements mini courses for four weeks. "Minis" provide students with a variety of elective options and supplemental academic applications such as Airfoils and Flight, and SAT preperation.
The mini period is implemented after lunch for 48 minutes and only shortens the other five periods by approximately 10 minutes. This format allows students to have a wider variety of elective offerings than traditional scheduling options.
Bell Schedules at a Glance
Regular Bell Schedule
| Period | Start – End |
|---|---|
| 1st | 8:50 – 9:50 |
| Mentoring or Mini Elective | 9:54 – 10:42 |
| 2nd | 10:46 – 11:46 |
| 3rd | 11:50 – 12:50 |
| Lunch | 12:50 – 1:37 |
| 4th | 1:41 – 2:41 |
| 5th | 2:45 – 3:45 |
Late Start Schedule (Wednesdays)
| Period | Start – End |
|---|---|
| 1st | 9:50 – 10:49 |
| 2nd | 10:53 – 11:52 |
| 3rd | 11:56 – 12:55 |
| Lunch | 12:55 – 1:39 |
| 4th | 1:43 – 2:42 |
| 5th | 2:46 – 3:45 |
Early Bird Schedule
| Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday |
| 7:50 – 8:45 |
