Portland Public Schools (PPS) has approved Lincoln’s request to maintain a yearlong, 8-period class schedule.

This comes after PPS’s original decision for the 2020-21 school year, which would only permit high school students to take four classes per semester. This presented major issues for Lincoln’s IB program, as IB can only function properly if students have two full years of uninterrupted instruction.

After a major push from admin, teachers and students, PPS Chief of Schools Shawn Bird was able to create accommodations to allow IB schools in the PPS district to maintain their yearlong schedules. 

“Because of the unique nature of the IB program requirements, Lincoln High School and Cleveland High School may continue with offering year-long courses so that students who wish to pursue the IB Diploma may do so,” Bird said. 

Lincoln will conduct individual reviews of 11th and 12th graders’ schedules, especially those of IB students, to ensure that students have the appropriate support to be successful in a distance learning environment. Admin will be developing a monitoring plan so that they can help any students who are demonstrating difficulty managing the workload of the IB program.

“I’m thrilled to receive news of this accommodation that allows us to support our IB program,” Lincoln’s principal Peyton Chapman said. “[This] also holds us accountable to support students to take manageable course loads during [the pandemic].” 

It is not yet confirmed when class schedules will be released.

More information to follow.