Building Student Ownership During Flex at Jackson Hole High School

Jackson Hole High School is a 9-12 school in Jackson, Wyoming, a tight-knit mountain town of 10,617 people. The school serves 891 students and about 115 staff, with sibling school Summit Innovations School also using MyFlexLearning. Jackson Hole first brought MyFlexLearning to the high school in 2022, and the middle school followed shortly after.

Jackson Hole runs a 7-day, 6-period rotating schedule, with a 30-minute Daily Flex block built in from 10:10 to 10:40 AM. Rather than defaulting students into a homeroom or advisory, every student starts the day unscheduled. Teachers create offerings, and students self-schedule with no limit on their choices. The responsibility to plan their time falls on the students themselves, with support from teachers and staff.

“We really push student ownership. We want them thinking: where do I need to be today, what’s the best use of my time,” said Samantha Smith, Fab Lab Director at Jackson Hole High School.

That ownership shows up in the numbers. During the 2023-2024 school year, Jackson Hole offered 1,851 unique Daily Flex classes, totaling 7,497 session instances. Students and staff made 132,383 schedule changes over the year, and 86,535 of them, 65%, were made by students themselves.

Jackson Hole built a system that supports students without letting anyone fall through the cracks. Nightly attendance jobs sync PowerSchool with MyFlexLearning to keep Flex records accurate. Each day at 9:55 AM, any student who hasn’t scheduled themselves is automatically pushed into a “Dismissed Students” class, where staff can follow up and get them set for the rest of the week.

Grade data plays a role too. Every night, students with a D+ or lower in a class are automatically tagged “no-study-hall” in MyFlexLearning, restricting them from scheduling into study halls so they use Flex time for academic support instead. The tag lifts automatically once grades improve, no manual intervention required.

“It’s not a punishment. It’s simply a way of making sure that if you’re struggling in a class, you’re using Flex time for what you actually need,” Smith said.

Flex at Jackson Hole extends well past the daily 30-minute block. The school also runs a Morning Flex (“zero hour”) before the school day starts and an Extended Day Flex session after school. Twelve times a year, the school holds Flex Fridays, where students needing extra support attend four one-hour classes for targeted instruction. MyFlexLearning also manages special sessions like WyTopp state testing makeups.

Since implementing Flex, Teton County School District #1 has seen measurable outcomes. Jackson Hole’s graduation rate reached 98.1%, daily attendance improved to over 98%, and 11th grade ACT scores now sit above the state average.

Superintendent Gillian Chapman credited the graduation rate to the FLEX program’s benefit to students and its alignment with the district’s goal of graduating “life-ready students.”

In 2022, the National School Boards Association recognized Teton County School District #1 with a Silver Magna Award, given to districts nationwide for programs that break down barriers for underserved students.

Source: SVI News, “Teton County School District #1 Recognized for FLEX Program”