Mastering “Flex Block” Schedules and Hallway Management to Keep More Kids in Class

Houston County High is a small and rural Title I school where money is tight. Lacking extra funds for additional tutoring, the school had to find creative solutions to support students who were falling behind. So they shortened each class by ten minutes to create a new daily period called “Flex Block” — where struggling students attend study hall to improve their grades and students who are doing well attend their choice of any flexible activity, such as band or basketball.

“Flex Block” offers highly personalized learning pathways, however, organizing this was a big headache. Principal Josh Rutherford used a detailed Google Sheet with complicated functions to email students where they needed to be each day. Although his spreadsheet wizardy was impressive, the process was a lot of work and took far too long to manage. On top of this, the question always arose, “What do we do with students who don’t need the extra study time?’” These kids were just sent to a class with any available teacher, often ending up in lessons they weren’t interested in, simply because they had no other choice.

In addition, Houston County High had a problem with too many students wandering the hallways. Without clear hall pass procedures, some teachers would just let kids go, some were handwriting notes, and some were giving out actual passes. There was also an added layer of concern — in the small town of Erin, a lot of home life issues would bleed into school life. For example, if kids from the same extended family would get into an argument over the weekend, they would carry that animosity into school on Monday. So Houston County High was looking for a way to somehow separate these students, keep them in class, and prevent fights in the hallways.

Principal Rutherford was initially drawn to Minga’s digital hall pass and check-in solutions for managing student movement. However, he soon discovered that the real game-changer was the FlexTime module. This system allows for easy duplication of flex and study hall templates each week, making “Flex Block” management at Houston County High much quicker and easier. In just a few clicks, struggling students can be swiftly assigned to study halls, while high-performing students enjoy the freedom to choose their preferred activities.

Minga’s other digital tools complement FlexTime in streamlining daily routines. The Check-In module, for example, centralizes and simplifies attendance management for special occasions, such as “Virtual Days” where some students come in for testing and the rest attend online classes. Instead of individual teachers doing a manual roll call for testing students, an attendance clerk efficiently manages check ins at a central ‘Minga Station’ in the front office. In addition, digital hall passes have enhanced visibility and control over student movement. This system plays a crucial role in easing hallway congestion and preventing certain students from causing trouble together in the halls — helping to keep more kids in class and maintain a more focused learning environment.