News & Events

Students in grades 7-12 will start the academic year 2026-27, the Year of Purpose, with a new daily schedule that brings the Royster Middle School and Tunstall Upper School into greater alignment and offers significant benefits for students.

The new schedule, announced last spring, is designed to better support teaching, learning, and student well-being without changing the length of the school day, which runs from 8:15 AM to 3:15 PM. It is designed to enhance the student experience with numerous advantages:

• A more balanced rhythm to the school day: Block periods are shifting from 85 minutes to 75 minutes, providing a more developmentally appropriate structure for Middle and Upper School students, while still allowing teachers extended time for deeper learning. 
• Greater flexibility: Moving from seven to eight academic blocks will allow students to pursue electives without sacrificing core courses and improve placement by balancing class sizes and instructional levels. 
• Greater equity in course access: A single schedule in both divisions ensures that students in grades 7–12 have equitable access to world languages, mathematics, and other sequential courses.
• Built-in independent study time: Every student in grades 7–12 has a dedicated study hall in their schedule — ensuring time for quiet work, organization, and meeting with teachers. 
• Daily community time: The new schedule has time set aside each day for assemblies, advisory meetings, clubs, academic teams, and more.