Fox C-6 School District high school students will see their teachers with more frequency during the upcoming school year.
The district is switching to a modified block schedule for Fox and Seckman high schools for the 2026-2027 school year. The schools had been using a straight block schedule since the 2018-2019 school year.Classes begin Aug. 25.
“Our achievement levels have not been where we want them to be in the secondary level,” said Tammy Cardona, who is retiring as the district’s assistant superintendent of secondary education on June 30. “We are hoping more contact with teachers will be a huge benefit for students.”
Fox and Seckman high school students will have three class schedules in the modified block schedule with the blocks, or days, labeled A, B and C.
On C days, students will attend all seven of their classes for about 50 minutes throughout the seven-hour school day.
On A days, students will attend three of their seven classes for about 90 minutes, and they will have an academic lab period, or ac lab, on those days.
On B days, students will attend four of their seven classes for about 90 minutes, and they also will have an ac lab on those days.
Cardona said the schools will typically have C days on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. She said A days will typically be held on Wednesdays, and B days will typically be held on Thursdays.
“It allows students to see their teachers more,” Cardona said. “With just a straight block, you would see your A teachers three days one week and only two days the next week. This way, you will see your teacher every C day, plus an A day or B day. In a typical week, you will see your teacher four days a week.”
For the last eight school years, Fox and Seckman high schools only had A and B days. The days would alternate each week.
Students would attend their A-day classes for three days and B-day classes for two days one week, and the next week, they would attend B-day classes for three days and A-day classes for two days.
“There are a lot of districts that go with modified block,” Cardona said. “There are not many districts that go with a straight block or straight seven hours. You have classes that highly benefit from longer class periods, such as arts or science labs. You also have classes that benefit from seven-hour days like math. It is important for students to see their math teachers more often and not sit in a math class for an hour and a half.
“The seven-hour days (C days) allow teachers to vary their lessons to help support student learning. There are some lessons that 30 minutes is good. There are some lessons that you want an hour to work with the kids. This allows the teachers to meet the needs of amount of instruction they need to give.”
Cardona said the modified block schedule allows for flexibility to ensure students attend classes with their teachers as much as possible, even when inclement weather cancels a school day.
She said if a school day is subtracted for a week for either a scheduled day off or unexpected day off, a C day will be replaced by one of the other days.
Cardona said an example would be if school is canceled on a Wednesday because of inclement weather, students would follow their A-day schedule on Thursday and have a B-day schedule on Friday that week.
“This allows for our structure to remain consistent,” she said. “It doesn’t interrupt instruction. Before when you only had A or B, you may not see your teacher for two days if a day is missed. The modify block works much better for a lot of different things.”
Cardona also said the modified block schedule ensures teachers will have a conference period on four days every week. She said teachers use that period when they are not teaching to perform numerous duties, such as grading students’ works, making copies of class materials or calling families about students.
The new high school schedules coincide with Fox C-6 implementing a late start every Wednesday for all district schools. Fox C-6 schools will each start one hour later on Wednesdays to allow teachers to meet in Professional Learning Communities (PLC).
District officials said PLCs allow teachers more time to analyze student learning data and enable educators to build on the instruction being provided for each student.
Dustin Bain, the assistant superintendent of elementary schools, previously said elementary teachers typically met once a week in PLCs, and Cardona previously said middle and high school teachers average about an hour of PLC meeting time a week without the designated day in the schedule.
Families with children attending elementary and middle schools may drop their kids off at their schools at the regular start time on Wednesdays. There will be no fee for children who need to be at school during the one hour before classes start on Wednesdays.
Fox C-6 schedules
The Fox C-6 School District is switching to a modified block schedule for Fox and Seckman high schools, and all schools will start one hour later every Wednesday for the 2026-2027 school year. The following is a look at those schedules.
High schools
There will be A, B and C days with students attending some of their classes and academic labs on A and B days and all seven of their classes on C days.
Schedule
Monday: C day
Tuesday: C day
Wednesday: A day
Thursday: B day
Friday: C day
Late start Wednesdays
- Fox High School
- Normal start time: 7 a.m.
- One-hour late start: 8 a.m.
- Fox Middle School
- Normal start time: 7 a.m.
- One-hour late start: 8 a.m.
- Seckman High School
- Normal start time: 7 a.m.
- One-hour late start: 8 a.m.
- Fox Elementary
- Normal start time: 7:40 a.m.
- One-hour late start: 8:40 a.m.
- Rockport Heights Elementary
- Normal start time: 7:40 a.m.
- One-hour late start: 8:40 a.m.
- Antonia Middle School
- Normal start time: 7:55 a.m.
- One-hour late start: 8:55 a.m.
- Ridgewood Middle School
- Normal start time: 7:55 a.m.
- One-hour late start: 8:55 a.m.
- Seckman Middle School
- Normal start time: 7:55 a.m.
- One-hour late start: 8:55 a.m.
- Sherwood Elementary
- Normal start time: 8:10 a.m.
- One-hour late start: 9:10 a.m.
- Simpson Elementary
- Normal start time: 8:10 a.m.
- One-hour late start: 9:10 a.m.
- Antonia Elementary
- Normal start time: 8:50 a.m.
- One-hour late start: 9:50 a.m.
- Clyde Hamrick Elementary
- Normal start time: 8:50 a.m.
- One-hour late start: 9:50 a.m.
- Guffey Elementary
- Normal start time: 8:50 a.m.
- One-hour late start: 9:50 a.m.
- Hodge Elementary
- Normal start time: 8:50 a.m.
- One-hour late start: 9:50 a.m.
- Lone Dell Elementary
- Normal start time: 8:50 a.m.
- One-hour late start: 9:50 a.m.
- Meramec Heights Elementary
- Normal start time: 8:50 a.m.
- One-hour late start: 9:50 a.m.
- Seckman Elementary
- Normal start time: 8:50 a.m.
- One-hour late start: 9:50 a.m.
Child supervision will be available for kindergarten through eighth grade students on late start days from a school’s normal arrival time until class starts. District employees will provide supervision at no cost.