In 1994, Brighton High School attempted a massively brave experiment. 

Instead of their seven-class, 45-minute-period semester schedule, the school implemented a trimester system. With trimesters, the school year would be broken into three blocks instead of two, with five hour-long classes each day. Over the next decade, every other Canyons District high school eventually shifted to a block schedule—eight-class, 90-minute-period semesters, with four classes taught every other day. From that point on, there has been constant pressure for Brighton to conform to the same block schedule, and yet Brighton’s trimesters have continued strong thirty years later. The fight to maintain the trimester, however, is recurring, and the topic remains controversial. 

Ample research was done before the switch to trimesters. “It took a while,” said Natalie Meyer, who has been teaching at Brighton since before the switch. The school had to look at “research, the impact over time, CTEC,” she said. They also sent out stakeholder surveys to students, parents, teachers, and the community to see if it was what the school wanted. With positive feedback on the trimester’s long-term impact, the new schedule was implemented in August 1994. 

The initial trimester implementation was rocky, and English teachers were hit especially hard. Under the previous schedule, they had two preparation periods to grade papers, but with trimesters, that was cut to one. Teachers also worried that 12 weeks weren’t enough time to teach the old curriculum—which proved to be true. The curricula had to be rewritten and reorganized, and some content was cut. While most issues eventually resolved themselves, others lingered, and over the years, opponents have continued to push back against the trimester schedule. 

The foremost criticism against trimesters is that they allow for large gaps between core classes. Core classes only require two trimesters, so a student could take a core class in the first and third trimesters, with a three-month gap in between. More severely, they could take classes in the first and second trimesters one school year, then in the second and third trimesters the next school year, leaving a gap of nine months with no review of the core topic. Critics worry this would be a detriment to student learning, giving them time to forget and—considering core classes tend to have curricula that build on past teachings—negatively impacting their progress in the later trimester. 

The local community council has also expressed concern that trimesters don’t allow enough space for students to take both Advanced Placement (AP) and arts classes, at least in comparison to other district high schools. Other high schools' two eight-period semesters add up to 16 classes per school year, while three five-period trimesters only allow for 15. Over the course of four years, that’s four fewer classes students can take. 

This concern about class space is also the most vocal internal criticism of the trimester system, mostly stemming from the Brighton Arts Department. 

While seeing students every day is “a very unique advantage over other programs,” choir director Daniel Emrazian explained, trimesters also mean fewer opportunities for electives. Emrazian says his choir students often have to do early-morning rehearsals or take online classes to get required credits, and because of the sacrifices required, Brighton’s arts programs are smaller. 

For example, the Brighton choir program only has “50 to 60 students,” as opposed to the “80 to 100” that other programs have. This difficulty also causes competition between different arts programs. 

“Normally, a student would be able to be in the theater program and be in the choir program, or be a band student and a choir student, or a dance student and an orchestra student,” Emrazian said, but because of trimesters, students are often forced to choose one over another. 

Finally, Canyons School District often opposes trimesters due to the Canyons Technical Education Center (CTEC), which teaches technical skills to students. CTEC runs on a block schedule, so Brighton students enrolled there have to deal with two conflicting schedules at once. The district is also constructing a new CTEC campus, which will be located even farther from Brighton, further complicating the schedule misalignment. 

Proponents, on the other hand, argue trimesters offer students a huge tactical advantage in high school—and they offer a ready reply to every criticism volleyed. There can potentially be a large gap in core classes, they admit, but Brighton consistently has some of the best math scores in the district, so the gap doesn’t appear to be causing significant issues. 

Tess Silcox, a senior who transferred to Brighton after two years on a block schedule at Hillcrest, said that one break between trimesters is better than having class every other day. With trimesters, she explains, you relearn old material for one week at the start of the new trimester, whereas with the block schedule she “would spend days relearning consistently.” 

In response to the community council's concerns about AP and arts availability, proponents cite a 2007 compromise. The Brighton administration went to Cache County School District, where all the high schools follow a trimester schedule, and studied their flex period. Brighton then implemented its own version, shortening classes from 72 minutes to 61 minutes and creating a 45-minute flexible period in which students could either go to a study hall or take an additional class. Classes were taught daily and on a semester schedule, giving students the option for two more classes each year and allowing more room for art and AP courses. Students who weren’t interested could attend study hall instead. However, due to widespread truancy and limited interest, the flex period was cancelled after just two school years. A decade later, a study hall period was added again—this time with no class options—and with much greater success. It continues today as the Academic Preparation Period (APP), where students can study, collaborate, and meet with teachers. 

While there is no perfect solution for the smaller arts programs, supporters point out that many other extracurricular activities benefit from trimesters. Sports typically align with the seasons—fall, winter, spring—and so do trimesters. While block schedule students struggle to balance a shift midseason, trimester students can stack their schedules to align with their other commitments, carrying lighter school loads during their sports seasons and heavier loads in the offseason. 

Myka Hopkins, a junior who transferred to Hillcrest after two years at Brighton, prefers the block schedule, but concedes the trimester was nice because “you were able to… plan your schedule out to try and balance the load of classes.” 

As for the district’s CTEC concerns, trimester supporters explain that of the five high schools to use CTEC, Brighton has the second-highest number of students enrolled—and students have always found ways to make CTEC work with the trimester schedule. 

“If they purposefully say you have to go to an A/B day on CTEC,” said Brighton’s American Problems teacher Aaron Hadfield, “that can mess it up. But right now they don’t.” 

Even with the new building, Hadfield said, “it can be done—the bell schedule can be adjusted to make that happen.” 

Meanwhile, advocates argue the length and number of classes are a huge benefit. Ryan Bullett, who started teaching at Brighton in 1996, is a football coach and Healthy Lifestyles teacher. When he taught on a block schedule prior to Brighton, he felt like there was “lots of time wasted.” Students lose interest and become disengaged halfway through, so the second half of class is wasted. “Eighty-seven minutes is a long time,” while in Brighton’s schedule, teaching continues “bell to bell,” Bullett said. 

Jennifer Mattson, an English teacher who started at Brighton in 1997, prefers trimesters because “there are only five classes,” which is easier for students to manage than the eight classes in a block schedule. 

Hadfield concurs: “The brain manage[s] five [classes] better than eight,” and with a trimester, “you never manage more than five.” 

While Hopkins prefers having “time in between classes to complete homework” in her new block schedule at Hillcrest, Silcox is glad to have left that behind. “I love the constant routine. Changing up is hard,” she said. “With trimesters I can focus on the same five classes.” 

Annie Feinauer, another senior who transferred to Brighton from a block schedule at the beginning of her junior year, explains, “It was hard to handle double the classes and double the workload. It gets a bit crazy… I love having the same classes every day.” 

Brighton teachers nearly unanimously cite the educational benefits. Mattson notes that one major benefit of the trimester is that “classes are every day.” Hadfield also highlights daily classes: “You should see the teacher every day,” because reviewing lessons with students daily helps the information “stay in their head.” 

Proponents agree, explaining this aligns with scientific research on the Forgetting Curve, which shows that reviewing information within 24 hours helps students retain information significantly better. 

Meyer, a Brighton math teacher with the longest tenure of any faculty or staff member in the school, started teaching at Brighton in 1990, before the trimester change. Meyer observed one of the key advantages of the trimester system is it allows teachers to instruct more effectively. Instead of getting one shot at teaching a class, as in a block schedule, teachers teach the first half of a class in both the first and second trimesters, allowing them to reflect and improve. She also explained the trimester shift requires teachers to “be on the same page” more, which has helped “bring them together departmentally.” 

Brighton students love the social benefits of trimesters. Silcox said that having the same classes every day allows for “more connections” and “more friends.” Feinauer loves that the trimester schedule has one lunch instead of two. Students aren’t split up, which allows them to “be more social and talk to more people,” and have lunch with their close friends. 

Silcox agreed, because with her previous block schedule, students were often split up from friends and “ended up sitting alone.” Having one lunch also means Brighton’s lunch is longer—40 minutes instead of the 30 that students get on a block. 

Overall, both sides of the trimester debate have drawbacks, but also benefits for students as well as teachers. It requires cuts in curricula and prep time for teachers, negatively impacts the arts programs and can cause issues with CTEC. However, it also benefits students by allowing them more manageable workloads, daily classes, alignment with sports, and social perks. The trimester schedule has issues to address, but it’s working—and working well.