Flex time offers options for students

For many high school students, after-school activities are out of reach. They can’t get a ride, they have to work or they just have other commitments that prevent them from devoting time to clubs, career planning or other activities after the official school day is over.

To help those students find a way to participate, many school districts in the state are adopting what is known as a Flexible Learning Experience – or Flex for short. Instead of waiting until after school, students can engage in a variety of activities during the day.

In York County, Fort Mill and Rock Hill school districts already offer Flex time during the day. The Fort Mill district gives students a one-hour lunch period on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and students can use the time to get tutored, take make-up tests and engage in other academic activities.

The Clover school district will experiment with Flex time during the last quarter of this school year. The district has been studying the advantages of offering more leeway during the school day for different activities, including club meetings.

A team of Clover district teachers and administrators went to Fort Mill, Rock Hill and Lexington high schools to see how Flex time worked there. Clover school board members have been initially positive about the project.

Use of the Flexible Learning Experience has increased around the state. This is indicative of an evolving approach to education, especially at the high school level, by school districts in South Carolina.

In addition to Flex time, schools, including area schools, are offering special counseling in career planning. This can include specialized internships with local employers.

In some cases, students will get help deciding what courses to take when they go on to a four-year college. In other cases, students can be matched to two-year tech programs or advanced training with companies after they graduate.

The point, it seems, is that students need more specialized options in a less rigid learning environment. The traditional, fixed school day with no variation and with all clubs, sports and other extracurricular activities held only after regular school hours should be a thing of the past.

We salute area district officials and board members for taking this innovative approach. Ultimately, we think, they will be producing students who are better equipped to deal with whatever challenges they face after collecting their high school diplomas.

This story was originally published April 9, 2017 at 3:30 PM with the headline "Flex time offers options for students."