Alleghany Highlands school to change format

LOW MOOR, Va. (WDBJ) - The Alleghany Highlands Public School district says it will change the scheduling for a local school starting Monday.

According to an announcement from the district, Covington Middle School will be closed Monday, September 18 and Tuesday, September 19 to allow teachers and staff to prepare for the change.

When students return to school on Wednesday, September 20, they will use an A Day/B Day format. The school year began with a modified four-by-four block schedule.

District leaders say they made the change following feedback from teachers who wanted to see students have more continuous levels of instruction in math and language arts. They say it’s also going to allow for other instructional needs, such as tutoring.

“We started working on this change in scheduling after teachers started asking us questions about the format we were using, and asking us to look at other options around mid-August,” said Dwayne Ross, director of secondary instruction for Alleghany Highlands Public Schools and CMS Principal Karen Staunton.

Under the new format, school days at Covington Middle School will be divided into two different sets of block periods that meet on alternating days. The set AB scheduled makes Mondays and Wednesdays “A days” and Tuesdays and Thursdays will be “B Days.” Fridays will also be B Days initially to allow students time to get caught up with instructional time and classwork.

On September 18 and 19, all other AHPS schools will be open. CMS students will not have virtual instruction or take-home lessons on those days.