Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE - After eight years of study and investigation, the Wawasee Community School Board will vote next month to determine whether or not Wawasee High School will change from two semesters to three.
That was decided yesterday afternoon at a public work session held to discuss the issue. Principal Alan Frank presented the overview summarizing pros and cons.
So what does this mean?
For students it will mean the opportunity to earn 60 credits instead of 48. If illness or bad decisions keep them out of school, it will be easier to re-enroll and graduate on time. If they fail a class, they will be able to make it up and still graduate.
"Our drop-out rate is very high right now," Frank told the board.
For teachers it will mean preparation for 70-minute classes, but fewer preparations will be needed. The longer time will allow more innovative approaches to teaching. Teaching will change from passive to interactive and teachers will have to reorganize their lesson plans to not just teach to the book.
For the administration it will mean more work in scheduling and staffing as well as reassessing all expenditures to find money to pay more teachers and paraprofessionals and to buy more supplies, especially for lab-type classes. At first it will mean larger study halls, but that should level off, according to Frank.
Superintendent Mark Stock said that if approved, the scenario would mean next school year will be devoted to in-house preparation of staff and teachers, and the following year will see a bare-bones beginning of the program. By 2003-2004 two additional teachers will be hired, and by 2004-2005 an additional teacher will fully staff the program.
Each trimester will have 60 days. The system more closely will follow the three-sports seasons, and it solves the problem of the first semester ending right after the Christmas break, according to the proposal.
The report listed 30 positives and only seven concerns. The concerns include gaps in instruction due to alternating trimesters, increased budget for supplies and the concern that when a student misses a day of school, more class time will need to be made up.
The benefits would include the ability for slower students to repeat classes or retake classes for mastery; the formation of university partnerships through distance learning and dual-credit opportunities; more academic honors diplomas earned; and the ability of students to graduate on time even when spending time on school-to-work programs, co-op with business programs and study abroad and time off to pursue avenues of study such as missionary work.
Frank and Stock emphasized that a vote for the trimester is a commitment for a long time. It isn't something that can change back in a couple of years.
They also said that mandated credit hours needed for graduation are increasing and that new standards are so challenging there will be a culture shock when they are introduced.
The board understood that hard decisions down the road involving expenses may need to be made and that they will need to make it work with what they have. Some members expressed concern that too many non-core classes will be added to the curriculum.
Board member Brian Dawes said, "I think hard decisions have to be made. If it is right educationally for the kids, then we should proceed."
According to board member Marion Acton, it affords a great opportunity for students and allows them more opportunities to get out and work their junior and senior years.
"We need to do everything we can to keep kids in school. We need to meet their needs. We need to train them as productive, responsible people," he said.
