Blocked Out

When I was in school (a few years ago, of course) we had 6 classes and we attended each one of them every day. Why this became a problem for school boards I cannot fathom, but things have changed. #1 Son is the unfortunate victim of something called "block scheduling." Between the two of us, C. and I hold three college degrees, yet we still cannot figure out this brilliant scheduling. I guess you need a Ph.D.

I'm not even going to attempt to explain it to you other than to say that they now have seven (or is it eight?) classes which they attend every other day. Sort of. There are "A" days and "B" days, otherwise known as "odd" and "even" days. Here is an example from the calendar that we JUST received:

Mon: EVEN Day – 8-6; 6,4,2,6
Tues: ODD Day (Ed. Note – no class numbers are listed)
Wed: EVEN Day – 8-7; 2,4,6,7
Thurs: ODD Day
Fri: EVEN Day – 8-1; 2,4,6,1

Clear as mud, right? It gets better. We've had some "severe winter weather" recently. For instance we had that blizzard on Wednesday that dumped a half an inch of snow (yes you read that correctly) and forced a school closure on Thursday. School closings apparently interfere with this well developed schedule and confuse everyone involved. In an attempt to clarify the scheduling issue, the school sent home a letter last Friday. It is long and involved, so I will just give you my favorite highlights. It is complicated so I will type slowly.

"If school is canceled, we will make up the missed day’s schedule on the day of make-up. If we miss an even day with 8-2 as the double dose block, we will have an even-day with 8-2 on the established make up day. On the day of return, we will have the schedule that has been established on the school’s block calendar (Ed. Note – Friday is the FIRST time said calendar has been sent home). This is regardless of how many days are missed."

I just have one question. When the heck is his math homework due?