Some High School North parents have expressed concerns over the freshman honors biology pilot program, which was instituted at North during the middle of the 2012-’13 school year. The general philosophy behind the pilot program, now in its first full year, is to allow students to learn by working independently on hands-on projects to connect more to the course and better retain the material.
Some parents and students, however, are concerned that the students enrolled in the pilot program are not actually learning the foundations of the course material and will therefore be at a disadvantage vis-a-vis other honors bio students at North as well as at High School South, which does not currently have the pilot program. The concern is that the different instructional approach will be felt particularly at the end of the year assessment, which is based on traditional teaching methods and is graded accordingly.
The school district is aware of the concerns and will hold a discussion to address them on Thursday, March 13, at 7 p.m. in the media center at North. Martin Smith, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, North principal Mike Zapicchi, and Rebecca McLelland Crawley, supervisor of K-12 science, will be on hand.
In addition, some parents may raise this issue during the public comments portion of the next Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, March 11, at 7:30 p.m. at Grover Middle School. Honors biology is not expected to be on the agenda for that meeting.
