At Minga, we hear it all the time—before Minga, school staff are stuck putting out daily fires. And over time? Those quick fixes turn into clunky, manual processes that everyone just learns to live with. One area where this shows up again and again is in managing flex periods.
Whether your school calls it Intervention, Office Hours, WIN Time, or something else entirely, managing it can quickly become a full-time job on top of everything else. That’s why we brought together two incredible administrators from Centennial High School, Jared and DJ, for our latest FlexTime Upgrade webinar.
See how they did it:
In the video above, they share how they transformed Office Hours from a logistical headache into a structured, student-centered part of the day. Using Minga’s FlexTime module, they simplified scheduling, increased student accountability, and put an end to hallway wandering.
Here’s what we learned from their journey.
From Chaos to Clarity – How Centennial Uses FlexTime
Flex periods shouldn’t feel like a full-time job—but for a lot of schools, they do. At Centennial High School, they call it Office Hours—a twice-weekly, in-school intervention block. Before Minga, managing it meant stress, guesswork, and a lot of manual work. Now? It’s a different story.
With Minga’s FlexTime module, students and teachers schedule sessions for academic support, make-up work, or extra help. The motivated students? They sign up on their own. The ones who need a little more guidance? Admins step in—right from their device.
“Students who are more motivated can choose where to go. Others, we step in and help.”
DJ Johnson – Assistant Principal, Centennial High, CA
No more “I didn’t know where to be.” Now, staff can place students in seconds—on the fly—giving them real-time support and removing the barriers that used to cause chaos in the hallways.
The result? Centennial went from nearly 90 unassigned students to just 13–14—on a campus of 2,800. That’s more time learning and less time wandering.
What Was It Like Before Minga?
Jared summed it up in one phrase: “The Wild West.” Before Minga, Office Hours ran on:
- Google Forms for teacher sign-ups
- Paper signs taped to doors
- Slips of paper handed to students
- Little to no visibility into who was going where
And even then, there was no guarantee a student would show up. Teachers had no way to know if a student saw their invite—or chose to ignore it. That kind of system just wasn’t built for accountability.
Buy-In Starts with Teachers
Change can be hard—especially when it means adding something new to the mix. But Jared and DJ knew teacher buy-in was key. They asked every teacher to create a recurring template for their Office Hours, so weekly setup would be quick and painless.
There was some initial hesitation. But once teachers saw how FlexTime gave students ownership—and gave them more control over their time—resistance turned into routine. Everything’s in one place. No more guesswork. No more paper. Just a smoother way to support students.
Key Takeaways from Centennial’s Experience
- Real-time support: Admins can register students for office hours instantly, solving confusion or non-compliance on the spot.
- Fewer hallway wanderers: From 90 down to under 15 unassigned students.
- Empowered teachers: With reusable templates and clearer expectations, teachers can focus more on support and less on logistics.
- Scalable solutions: Centennial serves 2,800 students—and FlexTime helps it all run like clockwork.
Want to see the full webinar?
Watch the full FlexTime Upgrade webinar to get inspired by Centennial’s success—and see how you can make your own flex periods smoother, smarter, and more student-centered.
Or keep reading to explore what’s new in FlexTime and how it can work for your school.
Here’s a sneak peek at what’s coming to FlexTime—and how we’ve made it even easier for schools to create structure, drive engagement, and support every student.
Creating Periods & Activities: Simplified and Smarter
One of the most time-consuming parts of running flex periods or office hours is building out periods and activities. Minga now makes this dramatically easier—with activity templates, cloning tools, and enhanced admin visibility.
New Features Highlighted:
- Teacher activity deadlines
- Scheduled auto-locking of Flex periods
- Multi-teacher activity assignments
- Activity cloning
- Admin visibility into missing or incomplete activities
Student Registration: Clearer Paths, More Accountability
Getting students to register—and making sure they’re registering for the right things—is critical. This update makes registration more flexible, automated, and enforceable.
Key Enhancements:
- Automatically register students with their homeroom teachers if an activity has NOT been chosen or assigned
- Restriction lists by grade, behavior, or group of students (No Party Groups)
- Registration deadlines and notifications for students
- Live dashboards and unregistered student reports
- Teachers can assign or register students from MyClass
Going to FlexTime: Clearer Directions, Smarter Hallway Management
Students not knowing where to go is a top challenge. This release puts their schedule front and center in the Minga app—and ends wandering halls.
Key Features:
- Student’s schedule shows upcoming flex activities
- Teacher’s view of activity registrations in MyClass
- Teacher access to student profiles from MyClass
- “End hall pass upon flex check in” automation
- Integration with existing class rosters
Taking Attendance: Easier for Teachers, More Accurate for Admins
Flexible scheduling shouldn’t mean flexible accountability. Minga now offers powerful tools to track, report, and take action on attendance trends.
New Features:
- Teachers can use MyClass to check in students
- Tardy tracking and auto-behaviors on check in
- Student self scan with QR codes or kiosk
- Restricted check-in windows
- Points for attendance (Rewards integration)
A Reimagined FlexTime That Works for Everyone
Whether you’re brand new to flex periods or already running it daily, these updates are here to simplify your life, increase student engagement, and boost the success of your intervention periods.
