Triad administrators have settled on a new middle school master schedule for the upcoming school year.
Middle School Principal Vinnie Spirko told the board of education during its most recent meeting that the schedule will differ between fifth and sixth graders, and seventh and eighth graders.
After consulting with teachers at those grade levels, Spirko said fifth and sixth grade classes will transition to a “true block” schedule, while seventh and eighth graders will have shorter class periods.
There will be three 82-minute classes that meet once each day for fifth and sixth graders, he explained.
They will have English-Language Arts (ELA) and math classes every day, while the third subject will rotate depending on the quarter.
Fifth- and sixth-grade students will have social studies classes during the first and fourth quarters of the year, and science during the second and third.
Spirko noted that there is no social studies state test in fifth and sixth grade, but there is a science test. For that reason, science classes are stacked in the middle of the year so material is fresh for students when they are tested in the spring.
On the other hand, seventh and eighth graders will have ELA and math classes in two separate 42-minute periods. They will have science and social studies every day, but those classes will only meet once, also for 42 minutes.
Spirko said teachers of the younger students preferred longer class periods because the students take longer to settle down and prepare for class, as well as clean up to transition to their next subject. He said the teachers said that often results in a 42-minute period becoming closer to a 32-minute class.
Seventh and eighth graders are more mature, he said, and can prepare more quickly. He said it is also beneficial for them to have more class periods for shorter segments, as that is the schedule they will see when they become high schoolers.
Superintendent Vickie Hoffman emphasized that Spirko gathered extensive input from middle school teachers in order to formulate their new schedule. She said she appreciates his approach.
Spirko said the middle school building will also have a number of new class offerings next year.
He said health classes will be offered at every level. Dylan Wears, who currently teaches gym classes and coaches football, will teach the courses.
Spirko said he envisions the classes being taught “in conjunction with gym.” For example, he said subject material could include a gym lesson on softball, then a health class that touches on what muscles are used during different actions in softball and how the body builds endurance.
At the sixth grade level, a typing/keyboard class will be offered as well as humanities. Eighth graders will have the option to take American Sign Language, computers, career clusters and additional College Credit Plus courses.
Spirko also told the board that 62 students attended after-school test prep sessions.
“(The sessions are) not necessarily content, but how to tackle tests,” he said.
The middle school also offered “intensive” test prep during the school day with students who are “on the fence” regarding their projected scores, Spirko said.
In response to a question from Board President Chris Millice, Spirko acknowledged that attendance at the after-school sessions was lower than the year prior.
Spirko said he believes numbers are down for several reasons.
First, he noted that test prep sessions last year were on Saturdays, which incentivized some students to come because they had an opportunity to see their friends one additional day.
Spirko said there was also a program in place last year in which students who attended a certain number of test prep sessions were able to go to the YMCA as a reward.
Spirko, who is in his first year in the position, said he did not set up a similar program with YMCA this year. He said he plans to do so next year.