Students at Park Junior High may be getting yet another change to their daily class schedule next year. The change would be the fourth in four years at the school, as the board discussed the possibility of moving toward block scheduling at a Thursday night District 102 Board of Education meeting.
Board members and Park staff spent almost three hours discussing the proposal, which would reduce the number of classes a student would take from seven currently to five. The classes would be broken up into four 90-minute classes with an 11-minute advisory period at the end of the day. Students would have 90 minutes of math and reading/language arts instruction each day, and would alternate between 90-minute blocks of social studies and science every other day. Students would also receive 45 minutes of physical education and foreign language instruction each day as well.
The impetus for the scheduling change comes from teacher dissatisfaction with the current scheduling model adopted by the board last year. The change created a total of nine periods that Park Junior High Principal Phil Abraham said has left staff without enough time to prepare, overwhelmed with the number of classes and left without enough time to set up and complete projects during the shorter class times.
Reaction to the proposed scheduling change was divided. A science teacher and a math teacher at the school were supportive of the longer class times, while a teacher at Lyons Township High School worried that block scheduling did little to prepare students to the structure of LT.
Kelly Paetsch, a music teacher at Park, said she was worried about the new schedule, and said her concern was that it would not provide enough time for her to get to know her students, or evaluate their progress.
Under the new schedule music and art would be taught for three weeks of each 12-week trimester as part of their language arts class. Music would be taught to seventh-graders and art would be taught in eighth-grade.
Abraham and Vice Principal Joe Gage said there would be a benefit to students in integrating the arts and language arts material for a deeper understanding of the material.
Despite a suggestion by Abraham that he would like to move quickly with the plan if approved, the board indicated it would rather take additional time to study the proposal and get more information and feedback.
Board member Dawn Aubert said that more time was needed, especially to get feedback from students and from parents, telling board members she had heard from families who had had a difficult time adjusting to the longer class times.
"This is a big departure," Aubert said.
Other board members agreed and worried about keeping kids engaged in 90-minute blocks of class time.
"The board wants to be a tough audience," Board member Jennifer Comparoni said in agreement, and added that parents were going to be even more skeptical as it would be the fourth change to the schedule in as many years.
The board did not give a date for the next time it would discuss the proposal, but board members could continue the discussion as soon as their next meeting at Forest Road School on Feb. 23.
To see the presentation to the board, click on the PDF document in with our pictures.
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