Johnson HS History
Opened: 1959
Closed: 1973
Johnson High School employed a schedule which divided the school day into 21 modules, each consisting of 20 minutes instead of the traditional 45–55-minute period. This format was implemented to provide the student with a marginal amount of variety in the school day and to allow some students as much as 40 percent of their time unscheduled. This new approach to teaching was made possible by computers at Stanford University in California, which had programmed the entire school year for Johnson’s students and faculty members.
According to the Pacific Stars and Stripes, the teachers found a distinctive individualism in this type of teaching, because the schedule revolved around them. In some classes, more than one teacher taught the course, exposing students to a wider range of views. It was also up to the students to determine what would be done with free time. In their free time, students were encouraged to work on weak areas in their learning skills and to take additional courses in other areas of interest. According to several students, learning was accelerated. Students were able to learn more in a shorter period with the lectures and study groups.