Evelyn Dean, junior, attends zero hour each Tuesday for her AP Biology class, where she completes labs and lessons.
“Without it, we would be totally behind on all of our work,” Dean said.
However, zero hour will be eliminated for the 2026-2027 school year at all Rockwood high schools. Dr. Gary Jansen, assistant superintendent of supervision for secondary education, said this decision came after conversations with the Superintendent’s Cabinet and high school principals.
Zero hour was initially added when the schedule consisted of seven classes each day to give AP science classes extra class time, Dr. Jansen said. While many factors played into removing zero hour, two of the main considerations were students unable to take AP science classes due to the required zero hour due not including provided transportation and the absence of zero hour in other AP classes.
“We’ve had some push from parents asking about their child being required to come into zero hour when there’s nothing listed in the course handbook saying they’ve got to,” Dr. Jansen said. “We don’t offer extra time in any other content area, whether it’s U.S. History or an AP Art or world language class, and our kids do really well in those content areas too, so students should be able to make up the time.”
Dr. Jansen said the decision was made this fall to provide staff ample time to make adjustments between now and next school year. The district is still determining what will happen to zero hour co-curricular courses such as Jazz Band.
Dr. Jansen said the district will look at current funding for zero hour stipends and determine how to reallocate the money.
Principal Dr. Tracey Waeckerle said removing zero hour will require some adjustments.
“We’ve always had a really strong AP community within our school,” Dr. Waeckerle said. “I think that will still stay strong, it’s just gonna look a little different.”
Ed Bolton, AP Chemistry teacher, said he includes labs and hands-on activities during zero hour to help students prepare for the AP exam. Without zero hour, Bolton said he calculated that he will have 30% less time.
“It’s a punch to the gut because I feel like at Marquette we have so many passionate teachers that are giving these kids their best,” Bolton said. “Our AP scores are higher than any other school in the district by a long shot, and they’re ridiculously above the national average so clearly it’s something that’s working really well.”
Bolton said he was planning on going to the Board of Education with his concerns, and encourages others to do the same.
“It was surprising and disheartening because you would think that a school district would support academic programs that were successful,” Bolton said.
