JENNIFER LILONSKY Parents crowd into the library at Middletown High School North to hear about scheduling changes at the Board of Education meeting on Aug. 21. MIDDLETOWN — An overhauled scheduling system for both Middletown high schools was introduced to a standing-roomonly crowd at the Board of Education meeting at the Middletown High School North library on Aug. 21.
The well-attended meeting featured a presentation by High School South Principal Patrick Rinella and High School North Principal Patricia Vari-Cartier explaining the new block scheduling system that will start this school year on Sept. 10.
“We truly believe that we have developed a schedule that is in the interest of your child’s best educational, social and emotional well-being,” said Superintendent William George III. “It addresses all of that, and we are firmly planning in the 21st century with a schedule that can improve teaching and learning.”
The new scheduling system dictates that students will now attend eight 80-minute classes distributed in two alternating days instead of seven 48-minute classes everyday.
Adding an eighth class will give students the opportunity to take elective courses like accounting, functional design, and world language education that will help them in postsecondary pursuits, Vari-Cartier said.
There will also be an altered lunch period during block three that will consist of two 26- minute periods. One period will be for students to eat lunch while the other will be for an advisory session. Students can seek extra help from teachers, meet with club advisors, and participate in other co-curricular activities during this time.
“There are a lot of opportunities that this is going to provide our students,” Rinella said. “I think we’re going to see the benefits from day one.”
The third block was also a major focus of the question-and-answer portion of the meeting, with parents seeking clarification about the structure of the extended lunch period.
George assured parents that their children would not be allowed to wander the halls or go wherever they desire. Students will have to sign in with a teacher and will be held accountable for their attendance during the second session of block three, he said.
One parent was also concerned about how the increased freedom during the advisory period would affect the need to locate a student during an emergency situation.
The use of cell phones will now be allowed during the tutorial period so that parents can contact their children more quickly, George said.
These new adjustments also call for changes to the attendance and graduation policies. The class of 2013 must earn 125 credits in order to graduate due to the addition of the eighth class. The credit requirements will increase by five every years until the requirement reaches 140 credits for the class of 2016.
In addition, students will now lose credit after they accumulate more than 10 unexcused absences in an A- or B-day class. Absences will only be excused for religious holidays. Parents will be notified when a student accumulates more than five absences, rather than eight — a change that was made at the meeting by the superintendent following a request from a parent in the audience.
George continued to field questions for 40 minutes following the presentation from parents like Megan Pruden who came to the meeting to hear a more detailed description of the logistics of the new system.
“I came to the last meeting on block scheduling and there was a little bit more confusion because it was new and they didn’t have it all figured out,” Pruden said. “I came back to see if it was more organized this time, and it was.
The administration repeatedly assured parents that the changes for the coming school year would benefit their children even if it takes some time to adjust.
“We are all very confident that Middletown will do an outstanding job at North and South in implementing the block schedule, and your children are going to be the beneficiaries,” George said.
The presentation will be available online and student schedules are now on the Parent Portal section of the Board of Education website. Parents who chose to opt out of Parent Portal will receive schedules through the mail.