The concept of Mustang Block is no stranger to Meridian High School students or administration. According to Associate Principal Peter Laub, this structured academic time dates back further than the start of his career in the Falls Church school system, beginning in 2011.
However, administration has implemented changes to its longstanding Mustang Block at the beginning of this academic year, aiming to better support student success and provide a more structured environment. This adjustment was made in response to challenges experienced over previous implementation, ranging from a lack of structure to addressing student safety concerns.
“Its previous implementation has caused issues, but previous implementation is not necessarily the main motivator in the changes,” Laub said.
In an effort to address previous misconceptions about the purpose of Mustang Block, he emphasized that, “It’s not free time. Nowhere did the school say: This is free time. We use language like student-directed time, which gives students agency in how they need to use their time during the school day.”
The change has come as a shock to many students alike, despite the administration’s insistence that “the goal was not to be secretive.” Mustang Block’s adjustment garnered a multitude of reactions from the student body, teachers and parents, ranging from relief to discontent.
“Students are seeing it from free time, to not free time. I get that student perception from a lack of accountability to a request for accountability. We’ve received, so far, positive responses from parents, positive responses from teachers,” Laub commented. “We garnered input, not just from the community, but from our teachers as well to see what would actually work for their classes and what would work for their kids.”
Laub recognized that most students are not abusing Mustang Block time, but noted that the structural changes were made to keep students on track, regardless of their previous habits.
“Most of our kids are using Mustang Block in an appropriate way, we’re simply providing some structure for everyone involved to get through this,” Laub emphasized. “Student-directed time is good and then provides the avenues for students to direct their time. That’s what we’re doing this year, explicitly, that hadn’t been done in the past.”
Meridian’s administration actively sought out feedback from the community and educators to ensure that the changes would benefit Meridian as a whole. By garnering input from multiple community sources, they aimed to create a practical schedule for all parties involved.
“One faculty member shared that he liked the camaraderie that bringing teachers out to supervise, like, provided some of that. Another just said that they really liked knowing the structure of when they could see students. The mystery wasn’t just for students last year, it was for teachers too,” Laub reiterated.
One of the aims of the scheduling changes was to provide students with schedules of when specific teacher support is available. Students are mandated to report where they intend to spend Mustang Block via the E-Hall Pass system in the Clever browser and are required to stay in that area throughout the entirety of the block.
“In the past we never did that, you just had to figure it out. You just had to go [to teachers] and be like, ‘Are you available?,’ ‘I don’t know,’ ‘Is this person available?’ That’s not helpful for kids. That’s not helpful for young people working to develop good work habits to not have a schedule,” Laub said.
In part, the changes to scheduling were made to address concerns regarding student safety and accountability. “Another thing is that we recognized that student safety is really important and simply having ‘free time’ is not good for student safety,” addressed Laub.
The new system helps ensure that administrators and teachers maintain a better grasp on where students can be found, putting to rest any anxiety worrying that students may be putting themselves in harm’s way or abusing Mustang Block time.
Laub understands that the recent changes may be hard to get used to and will take a little work. However, he is assured that students will quickly adapt to the new schedule and make the most of the situation.
“Kids are incredibly adaptable, which is what I love. Part of what I love working with students is that change happens a lot and you guys are really good about understanding and learning a change. My experience with working with teenagers is they get it after a little bit, like their rhythm kind of clicks in,” Laub said.
While the announcement was initially met with student pushback, Laub and the administration are confident that students will adapt with the new framework and will in the end benefit from this adjusted structure.
“It’s a new school year and any change feels radical at the moment and as we experience this let’s work together. My goal is never to hurt kids, my goal is for kids to learn and have a good experience at school.”
