Edficiency is the new system through which Flex is organized. The system’s implementation has been difficult for some students at Watauga, generally upperclassmen, because the system is much different from the flex schedule that they have been used to.
Enacting an entirely new system for Flex is no simple feat. Students have cited the website, complications with teacher requests, and less freedom to choose locations as some of the main issues with the new system.
“I have an issue with it because I can’t see that a teacher requested me. Last week I got called to two flexes...it was a little annoying that I couldn't see who requested me. It’s frustrating that you can’t see...other than that it’s fine,” says Alexandra Newmark, a junior at Watauga.
The new flex system operates through a network called Edficiency that allows students and teachers to make online requests about where they want to go to Flex. Each day students are automatically assigned somewhere unless they have requested to go get help from a teacher.
Edficiency is more restricting than previous systems but it is also more organized. The downside to Edficiency is that sometimes requests can get complicated, with multiple teachers wanting students to come to their priority flex at the same time.
Jenson Moretz, a junior, says, “The old system] was simpler...now you have to plan ahead.”
Another change that some students have had issues adjusting to is a lesser degree of freedom constituted during the flex period. Edficiency assigns students to a class every day, regardless of whether they have signed up for anything. As a result, students cannot just meet up with friends and go wherever they want.
“You could go with your friends to places in the old system, before I’d just meet up with friends and go wherever,” states Nathanael Cox, a junior at Watauga.
The advantage of assigning students to a class daily and consequently limiting their free roam is that students now know exactly where they need to be daily and administration can locate them more easily.
“[Flex] is an efficient way to schedule students so that everybody knows where they are supposed to be,” says Mrs. Shepherd, an administrator for Watauga. “ [Edficiency is also] a better utilization of time.”
The most important benefit of this new flex system is that it encourages students to use flex to be more productive and use their time more efficiently. Before this year, flex was more of a free period where students could just hang out.
“ (Flex) turned into 40 minutes for students to take a break...to say that’s not happening now would be ridiculous...but with efficiency the system balances the attendance across the whole school… and teachers are more accountable too,” says Mr. Walker, a teacher at WHS who was one of the first to learn the new system.
Administrators and teachers felt that the introduction of Edficiency was a way to remedy issues not addressed by previous versions of FLEX.
Walker states, “The reason we have efficiency now is pre-COVID we didn’t really have a way to place students, and for teachers to know where students were, we tried QR codes, gmail...it just didn’t function the way we intended flex to be which is really a time for students to catch up on their learning or relearn something they didn’t learn in class.”
The new flex system has also helped make the transition easier for the freshman class. As a freshman, flex can be confusing when you do not know where to go. Edficiency helps to make that process easier.
Curtis Svensky, a freshman, says about Efficiency, “ I feel like I like it, it helps me out a lot with my classes. It's not that confusing.”
While having a free period is nice, the essential purpose of FLEX is to further aid students in learning. Edficiency both keeps students productive and organized, which in turn helps students be more successful in learning.
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