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BOE discusses middle school alignment at work session

by

Emily Featherston

Parents, teachers, administrators and even a few alumni packed into the Board of Education boardroom Tuesday evening to hear updates and discuss multiple issues, but one was discussed for over an hour and a half: middle school alignment.

Assistant Superintendent Jane-Marie Marlin began the discussion by reminding the board and audience of the alignment discussions origins in the accreditation process in 2014.

“Today is an output of work over several years,” she said, detailing the various steps taken both before the parent forums in November as well as in the last two months.

Marlin said that in that time, teachers and other school representatives from both Liberty Park Middle School and Pizitz Middle School met together to figure out how to make the student experiences at the schools as similar as possible, while maintaining the integrity of each community.

Of the changes that are on the horizon, one Marlin said the team quickly realized was the need for aligned course offerings, meaning the addition of gifted courses at each school as well as adding languages and electives at Liberty Park. Plans also include adding Career Prep A, which is typically taken in high school, but can be taken in the 8th grade. Taking the course early would open up high school students for another elective.

Pizitz assistant principal Andy Carpenter and Liberty Park assistant principal Roger Dobnikar presented the additional findings of the many meetings, namely the major goals for the alignment process, and a proposed schedule that both middle schools will use.

Carpenter and Dobnikar, as well as Marlin and Superintendent Sheila Phillips, emphasized that changing the schedule was not the original intent of the meetings, but rather that changing the schedule was a product of the discussion.

Carpenter and Dobnikar also pointed out that the "easy" option would have been for one school to adopt the other's schedule, but that there were benefits to both, and the team wanted to create an option that would serve both schools as best as possible, or "the third way."

The result is a seven-period day with a Lancer or Pirate period at the end of the day, depending on the school, and keeps the "rotating" aspect where students have courses at different times of the day. The schedule allows for students to take two electives, as well as a period of academic strategy, where teachers can better intervene with students needing help as well as cultivate study skills and academic progress.

The proposed schedule also builds into teachers' schedules professional development time and the ability to participate in learning communities within their subject or grade level.

The Lancer/Pirate period can be utilized in a variety of ways, which Dobnikar described as "fluid." It could possibly make up for some of the compromises in the plan, such as losing the homeroom period.

Carpenter and Dobnikar also said putting the Lancer/Pirate period at the end of the day would allow some courses or groups to continue after the end of the school day.

There was also purpose behind the name not simply being "8th Period."

“It is not Pizitz 8th period with a shine on it, it is something new,” Marlin said.

To make the new schedule and course offerings possible, Pizitz would need eight academic strategies teachers, and Liberty Park would need six, along with an interventionist and six teachers for various subjects.

“We recognize that what we’re asking for is a lot,” Marlin said to the board, but said that the staff changes were necessary to implement the plan.

Phillips said that the next steps include determining how to make those changes happen, and present them to the board for approval.

The recommendation from the meetings and focus groups would be to implement the alignment changes in the fall semester of 2017.

“This is something that at the end of the day, I feel really, really good about,” Carpenter said.

Other Discussion Included:

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