A new elective may soon come into play for sixth graders throughout the district. Currently sixth grade students have the choice of taking band, choir, or orchestra, and those who do not take any of the three have a study hall period instead. That idle time may soon be taken up, possibly by a course that focuses on communications and presentation skills.
Board member Richard Kaye, chairman of the curriculum committee, said that 96 students from Community Middle School and 75 from Grover Middle School currently have study halls, and he explained the consensus that there should be a more productive use of the students’ time at school.
“They also have a flex period each day, so at times they can have more than one time per day of a study hall or free period situation. In addition at Grover some students have a study hall over 30 days during the cycle of programs,” he said.
Kaye says the district staff is now working on developing the concept for the elective course. Early indications are that it will involve “development of communications and presentation skills,” according to Kaye. The curriculum committee has started a discussing possible offering, but no formal recommendation has been made to the school board yet.
#b#More Changes For Placement Criteria#/b#
Also at the March 13 school board meeting, Kaye said changes are ahead for middle school math placement, which will soon be based on performance.
“In order to make the placement of students more criteria-based and transparent, it was discussed to align a new process with what we [the board] approved for high school criteria,” Kaye said.
He recalled the board’s process of changing the honors and AP placement requirements, which created a stir in the district with regards to the parental override system (WW-P News, December 2 and 16, 2011). Ultimately WW-P parents’ sentiments were taken into account as the original draft of a district policy was amended at the school board meeting last November 22, when 100 parents attended and half of them spoke during public comments.
The criteria for math placement is currently being reviewed and developed by the district’s administration. In his comments, Kaye also referenced a new study to summarize the approach the curriculum committee is taking with this recommendation.
“We think all members of this community need to better understand and reduce the anxiety of ‘if I don’t get into this course at a certain time, by grade so-and-so, my future is reduced.’ To let you know, students who are in algebra in grade 8, going through the regular procedures and paths required by our curriculum, not with any jumping or advancement over the summer, are able to continue on to calculus honors in high school very comfortably,” Kaye said.
Kaye hopes that people in the community comprehend the reality better so they do not put pressure on themselves “and our children” in the earlier grades, creating an environment where children are stressed to perform.
Kaye anticipates that more information could come before the school board soon, possibly at the school board meeting on Tuesday, April 2.
