Foxborough High adopts daily 30-minute 'Fox Block' to expand in-day supports and planning

The Foxborough School Committee on June 10 approved a restructuring of Foxborough High School's daily schedule that introduces a daily 30-minute "Fox Block" intended for curriculum extension, targeted MTSS supports and student work time. The change passed by motion and recorded voice vote.

Dr. Donovan, who led the design committee, described Fox Block as an instructional extension: five minutes will be redistributed from multiple classes to create a 30-minute block where students may be assigned by a teacher for targeted supports or register to work with a teacher in a subject area. The committee heard that the district ran a trial during a reduced-enrollment period and tested software (a platform called Minga) to manage student registration and teacher assignments.

Under the plan five of seven classes will meet each period across the cycle, class lengths will be reduced slightly (roughly 56 minutes to 52 minutes in the trial), and passing time was shortened (students have three minutes to move between classes in the trial). Departments will have assigned 'priority days' when they may require students to attend Fox Block for high-priority interventions; otherwise students may register for a teacher's Fox Block session to get support, work on projects, or use lab space. Dr. Donovan described two assignment modes: "assigned" (teacher requires a student to attend) and "registered" (student signs up for a session).

Committee members asked about operational matters: how students who do not sign up will be handled (staff reported they are being registered and the district used community-service tasks as a temporary incentive during the trial), whether college reps and coaches could use Fox Block for meetings (administrators said yes, within set time windows), and how the change would affect seniors and other privileges. The district emphasized that Fox Block is intended as instructional time, not a drop-in activities hour, and noted state requirements for total annual instructional hours (the schedule preserves the required 990 hours).

A motion to adopt the proposed schedule was moved and seconded; the committee recorded the vote as 4–0 in favor. District staff said small operational tweaks remain (registration timing, Fox Block placement in the day) and that they will continue to refine Minga and run additional adjustments during summer scheduling and implementation work.