The daily class schedule at Manchester Township Middle School will undergo a total revamping next year, Principal Tom Baxter explained at a recent Board of Education meeting. The new schedule will add more instructional time in Math and Language Arts, help the school meet the state requirements for World Language instruction for all students, and provide students with a variety of experiences in areas such as art, home economics, and industrial arts. It also allows time for staff to attend meetings and trainings together. All this would be accomplished without the need for any additional staff, Baxter added.
Under the new schedule, each grade level would be divided into two “teams” to create smaller communities within the school setting. The school day would consist of nine 40-minute periods, along with brief homeroom periods at both the beginning and end of the day. Baxter said that the idea for this end of the day homeroom is to help students get organized before heading for the bus. In addition to the core subjects of Math, Language Arts, Science and Social Studies, under the new schedule all students in grades six and seven will rotate through 30-day semesters of Spanish, French, Art, Home Economics, Industrial Arts and either STARS (Skills, Testing & Reading Strategies) or Gifted & Talented. In grade eight, students will have the option of continuing the same rotation or taking a full year of Honors Spanish or French. Students who wish to participate in band or chorus will be able to participate by taking Health/Physical Education for four days each week and going to music activities on the fifth day.
The new schedule also provides for double block periods of Math and Language Arts, giving students 83 minutes of daily instruction in these important core subjects. Teachers will receive training to help them make the best use of this extra time, said Baxter. “Hopefully our student test results will show improvement with this additional academic time,” he said.
The new schedule is the result of months of research and development by a committee of teachers, administrators, and staff from the guidance, child study team and technology areas.
Superintendent of Schools, Dr. William E. DeFeo, commended Baxter and everyone involved with designing the new schedule. “Even if we don’t see the benefit we are hoping for from the increase in instructional time, we are already ahead of the game by getting a schedule that includes World Language for all students without the need for additional staff,” he said.
