For the past few years office hours have been held as an early release schedule. Recently, faculty had seen a few aspects challenging office hours’ composition. Administration knows, however, office hours are a great way for students to get work done; they don’t want to get rid of it. This has led to the new proposal the school is running today.
Although buses were provided at the end of the day, many students did not have appropriate transportation with early release office hours. When students are not able to attend office hours after a teacher requests them, they fall even further behind in their class. They also lose time to get one-on-one help.
“I would have requested students and maybe their friends are not staying, or their friends are their ride home. Students are not able to stay because their friends are going to Starbucks, or their friends are leaving early, or their friends do not have to stay that day,” science teacher Laura Krajewski explained.
Unlike most of the changes school makes, the new office hours proposal was not inspired by a different school. There is no solid evidence of higher student attendance, but no evidence this proposal will lower attendance either. The administrative team helped brainstorm a new proposal thinking of many alternatives along the way.
“I think a lot of us are hoping that there will actually be more students showing up at the beginning of the day,” Krajewski said.
A new app within the Powerschool program will be introduced to the community where teachers can request students for office hours. Parents are able to download the app to make sure their student attends a class they need help in. Teachers will be able to follow up with families or parents if students are not able to come in. Keeping families, not just students accountable for reaching learning help.
The new office hours proposal creates a little extra work for teachers. It is not excessive, and definitely worth it, but yes, there is extra to do on our part, Krajewski said.
Students riding the buses in the mornings will gather in public spaces. The cafeteria or auditorium will be used for students to socialize, collaborate on work, and help keep classrooms focused and quiet.
Having a public space for students to gather is an appealing idea, if all students had to stay in their home bases, people might be “disruptive and gonna cause more problems at school” without work to complete junior Katie Sanchez said.
Many faculty members and students believe this new policy will hold through the year, and would maybe like to see it for years to come. Next year however, with the implementation of the block schedule, it is likely there will be no office hours at all.
“One of the reasons behind the block schedule is that it might provide more flexibility during the day. The hope is that we wouldn’t have as great a need for something like office hours, because there would be already be some more flexibility during the course of the day,” principal Robert Bach explained.
If, somehow, student attendance lower than the previous year, there is a chance for the proposal to change. The administrative team wants students to have time for help, and are willing to brainstorm other ways to get students the time they need.
“I would think we’re not probably going to make a change of this magnitude without the idea that it’s going to stick for a little while. You got to stick behind something for even a little bit of time to work. But we’re always reflecting on whether it’s meeting the goals of what we had,” Bach said.
For the past few years office hours have been held as an early release schedule. Recently, faculty had seen a few aspects challenging office hours’ composition. Administration knows, however, office hours are a great way for students to get work done; they don’t want to get rid of it. This has led to the new proposal the school is running today.
Although buses were provided at the end of the day, many students did not have appropriate transportation with early release office hours. When students are not able to attend office hours after a teacher requests them, they fall even further behind in their class. They also lose time to get one-on-one help.
“I would have requested students and maybe their friends are not staying, or their friends are their ride home. Students are not able to stay because their friends are going to Starbucks, or their friends are leaving early, or their friends do not have to stay that day,” science teacher Laura Krajewski explained.
