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Schenectady
High School
Updated
February 02, 2010
Restructuring Schenectady High School
Q & A
Please check back
often as questions and answers will continue to be added.
Q:
Does restructuring have to address the entire school or can it
focus on the failing students?
A: It
must address the entire school
Q: Is
graduation rate based on four years?
A:
Yes
Q:
What’s the chance that the 147 kids are not moving on
because they can’t read?
A:
Reading is an issue for some students. We provide remedial
reading services at all levels in our district, including
the high school. The number failing students is an
indicator that there are multiple issues that need to be
addressed. Reading is certainly one of those factors.
Q: What
analysis has been done on the 147 kids? What's the
real factor why they are not moving on?
A: It is
wrong to focus on the 147 children who failed last year.
This is not a one year problem. It happens every year
for multiple reasons. The issues in K-8 have been
addressed and as a result, we have seen significant
improvement. We will continue to focus on this
preparation of students before they get to the high school.
We must also continue to help the students who are already
there.
Q: Are you
considering tracking by ability?
A: We do not
track by ability. We offer a comprehensive array of
course options for students to choose from at all ability
levels.
Q: Wouldn't
middle school intervention be better than starting in high
school?
A: We have
focused our efforts over the last five years on K-8.
However, we cannot ignore the issues of the current high
school students.
Freshmen House/9th
Grade Academy
Q: How
was a 9th grade academy selected for
consideration?
A: It is an approach that has proven effective
for addressing the needs of freshmen in large schools across
the country and in many smaller schools as well.
Q: In
regards to a 9th grade academy, what is meant by
teaching a different curriculum?
A:
The ninth grade academic curriculum will not change except as a
natural evolution of curriculum development, curriculum mapping
and new mandated requirements. If you are referring to our
discussion about beginning to use the National Guidance
Curriculum in ninth grade - this is about granting our guidance
counselors time and student access in order to cover this
curriculum.
Q: So
this would be similar to middle school?
A:
"Similar" is a difficult word to equate with this
comparison. Schenectady High School is so much larger than
any middle school. Any “Freshman Teams” or house approach
would be a means to make the high school seem a little
smaller. Teaming allows us to put together a
multi-discipline team of teachers who would work with
a limited segment of the overall freshman class. It is
another way to ensure that individual students do not get
“lost” in the larger population in regard to attendance,
behavior or academic achievement.
Q:
Regarding teams… how will the teams be created? Will
kids from the same schools stay together?
A:
We don't have a full answer to this question yet. We
have explored having a team through the collaborative
effort with the Schenectady County Community College
called the “Smart Scholars” program. This is a new
grant funded program to encourage students who may not
see college as a viable alternative. We would
expose this team to varied experiences with our staff
working and staff from SCCC. Other teams will most
likely be heterogeneous in nature with students
selecting from a variety of levels and courses.
Q:
Would the freshmen be in one part of the building?
A:
This is an ongoing debate. We are currently
discussing the idea of freshman teams within each house
of the high school. This would mean trying to keep
the team of teachers close in proximity to each other to
facilitate collaboration and reduce travel time for
students. This would not require all of the
freshmen to be in one area of the building.
Q:
How will support be divided or reallocated if there is a 9th
grade academy? (Such as administrators, counselors, social
workers, teachers, deans, etc.)
A:
There seems to be consensus that there is a great need for
focused resources for freshmen. Currently, we are
examining how to add these resources to the high school on top
of the resources that are already in place. We believe
that dedicated freshmen counselors, social workers and other
human resources are critical to the success of our incoming
students.
Q: How
would IB be incorporated into a 9th grade
academy?
A: We
have not discussing changing our Pre-IB program. We are
exploring ways to include more students and prepare a more
diverse group of students for the rigor of our International
Baccalaureate academic programs at the eleventh and twelfth
grade levels.
Q:
Are thinking of keeping all freshmen in their own wing
and will they keep their own suspension room?
A:
No.
Q: Is
there any talk of moving the 9th grade academy to
another building?
A: No
Q:
Is there any money to adjust classrooms or labs to
be located within a freshman academy?
A:
We
have not had any discussion about
adjusting lab space at the high school. Currently,
there is a failure rate of around 20% per year for
freshmen. The full high school experience is not
working for many children. However, the
teaming/academy idea is one way to allow “some” high
school freedom without allowing it all at once.
Q: Why haven’t they moved on?
A:
Freshmen progress to the next grade level only
after earning a certain number of credits (by
passing classes).
Q:
Have you considered just focusing on the 147?
I feel like our kids need a lot of attention.
Some kids have earned the right to mix with the
older kids.
A:
They all deserved a lot of attention.
Our intention is not to put the freshmen in a
bubble or keep them from mixing with older
students. Our intent is to put enough
support in place in the form of
interdisciplinary teaching teams and pupil
services to ensure that we have a safety net for
those students who do experience problems.
Q:
My 9th grader has a huge workload and no
flexibility. To get extra help he needs,
he could benefit from a study hall. Right
now he comes in early and stays after school.
I would love to see the freshmen have a free
period in which they can get extra help and meet
with guidance.
A:
Because of the mandated classes that
freshmen are required to take, there is little
opportunity for flexibility. This is not
unique to our high school or New York State
schools.
Study halls
have not traditionally been used effectively by
students and are not used to be productive by
many. If used properly, a study hall can
be helpful for students. However, with
only six periods a day it is unlikely for a
students to have "free time" on a consistent
basis.
Q: In light of the state fiscal
crisis, do we have funding for this?
A: Funding is always a
consideration. We believe we can shift
resources within our existing buildings,
budget and staff to concentrate on providing
the level of services we believe are
needed. We have applied for a large grant
that would certainly facilitate this
process, but is not fundamental to the
implementation. The restructuring effort is
a state and federal mandate. It must happen.
Q:
We will have two years in the middle
school, another year of transition in 9th
grade and then another transition in 10th
.... how does that help?
A:
The 9th grade transition has always been
an issue for students when they go from a
middle school to high school. This is a fact
and is something we are always working to
improve. There is no transition to
10th grade (except from the perspective that
in 9th grade students would have
interdisciplinary teams working with limited
groups of students).
Advanced Regents /
Regents
Q: If
the AR/R levels are combined for heterogeneous grouping, will
class sizes then be moved up to 32 vs. the "R" levels cap at 26?
A:
There is no current cap of 26 for Regents classes.
However, we have always tried to keep class sizes down and low
as possible. Average class sizes currently do not vary
much between Regents and Advanced Regents classes. We will
always do our best to keep class sizes down to between 20-25
students per class.
Schedule
Q: Is
there a consideration for the 8-period day schedule /rotating
periods each day?
A:
All possible daily schedules are being reviewed and discussed.
Rotating periods create a scheduling nightmare that we will have
to be very careful to assess before adopting.
Q:
I'm hearing from my child's peers about the benefits of the
schedule and that 40 minute class periods are not sufficient.
A:
The schedule as well as schedule options are being studied.
It will not be changed next year.
Q:
How long are the class periods now?
A:
One hour
Q:
Will the current software work with a straight schedule?
A:
Yes
Q:
Did going to a split lunch make a difference? Was it
easier to schedule?
A:
No, it makes scheduling more difficult
Q: It
seem like one of the issues is being persistently dangerous.
How does switching to a straight schedule with more kids in the
halls affect behavior?
A:
The restructuring plan and the persistently dangerous label are
not related in any way. The restructuring mandate is
related only to student academic achievement, graduation and
dropout rates. The persistently dangerous label is based
on the number of identified violent and disruptive incidents in
relation to the student population. Each incident is
weighed differently and is based on a state formula. There
is no way to tell if a schedule change would affect this.
Q:
Did we just purchase software for scheduling?
A: No
Guidance
Q: How
would guidance be administered ?
A:
Guidance is not an administrative function. Guidance, social
workers and school psychologists work with many service
providers to offer support, help and guidance to students
with decisions and planning out a successful four years of high
school and post-high school life. Our plan includes adding
staff specifically for the freshman class to help with a
smoother transition to the high school setting.
Additionally, we believe focusing on freshmen and on these
services will enable us to help students be more academically
successful while dealing with this difficult time in each
adolescent’s life. We believe that we need to develop
consistent communication between guidance counselors at all
levels. This area is currently being explored and
continues to be discussed.
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