STAFFORD COUNTY, VA — Stafford middle school students will take science and history daily alongside English and math under a new schedule designed to give students more time in subjects where test results lag state averages.
The Stafford School Board approved the schedule and middle school program of studies Tuesday in a 5-2 vote, the Fredericksburg Free Press reported. The changes will take effect in the 2027-28 school year.
The school day will expand from five class periods to six, with 52-minute classes, according to the Free Press. School officials said the schedule would provide about 152 instructional hours annually in each core subject, compared with between 88 and 99 hours now for science and social studies, the outlet reported.
A presentation to the board identifies more time for science and social studies, shared teacher planning and an advisory period as goals of the schedule changes.
Stafford's eighth-grade science SOL pass rate was 61 percent in 2025-26, down from 65 percent the previous year and below the state average of 66 percent. The presentation reported a 66 percent seventh-grade history pass rate, compared with 73 percent statewide.
The sixth-grade plan includes a rotation through four introductory career and technical education courses: family and consumer sciences, technology and engineering, computer solutions, and career investigations.
Students would spend nine weeks in each course, attending every other day and alternating with health and physical education. According to the presentation, career Investigations would replace the required Pathways to Success course.
For the remaining period, sixth graders would select visual or performing arts electives. Those classes would alternate with another arts elective or, for students who need it, math or literacy remediation.
The sample schedules show seventh- and eighth-graders taking electives and physical education around their four daily core classes. Eighth graders could also take a world language.
Music teachers who addressed the board raised concerns about ensemble instructional time, the Free Press reported. Board members Patricia Healy and Susan Randall opposed the changes, questioning the balance between core academics and arts instruction. Chair Elizabeth Warner supported the plan but asked that the arts remain protected, the report said.
The presentation says limited visual and performing arts staffing requires balancing sixth-grade exploratory opportunities with elective access for older students. Intro to Art and Intro to Music were removed from the proposed sixth-grade rotation because they overlap with existing arts courses.
Three middle schools are also piloting advisory periods. Those pilots will guide the placement, content and structure of advisory time across middle schools in 2027-28, according to the presentation.
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