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High school's plan earns passing grade
Changes to Mountain Home High School's weekly class schedule earned a passing grade by students and faculty as the first quarter of the school year ended under the new plan.
Modifications to the school's academic program were the latest in a series of cost-saving measures the school district launched last spring.
Budget cuts prompted the school to dismantle the block schedule it used for the past 15 years and switch to a modified, seven-period system.
"With the amount of credits needed, a six-period day was out," because students couldn't earn the required credits to graduate, said Principal Jeff Johnson. The faculty was left with finding a way to pack the required lessons in a shorter amount of time.
The result was a plan known as the modified block schedule similar to the system used at Timberline High School and other schools in Boise. Under this plan, students attend all seven of their classes on Monday, Tuesday and Friday and switch to four, 90-minute classes the other two days.
The modified block schedule blends together "the best of both worlds" from an academic standpoint, Johnson said. The extended class schedule on Wednesdays and Thursdays allow teachers to run time-intensive lessons like science labs that would normally be curtailed during a seven-period day.
"It's defiantly been a change and we've had a few little hiccups trying to monitor some things," Johnson said regarding the modified class times. "But for the most part, people enjoy it."
For teachers like Stehvn Tesar, those longer class periods gives him time to conduct large-scale projects and activities that wouldn't normally fit in a 50-minute class period.
In his global perspectives class, for example, Tesar's students needed to conduct an intensive amount of research on ancient Greece. The 90 minutes they gained from the modified block schedule provided just enough time for these teens to complete their research and finish their projects.
"I like it in my classes. It benefits the courses that I teach," Tesar said.
In addition, students say the days go by faster with the 50-minute classes with the modified block schedule days providing "a break in the tedium," Johnson said.
"It's not the same thing day in and day out," Tesar added. "It's not monotonous like what we see in the traditional schedule. That modified block really mixes well."
Despite the advantages, Tesar admits the longer, 90-minute classes are a bit of a challenge for his freshmen students, who were used to shorter classes at the junior high school.
"It's really tough for freshmen to be fully engaged (in the 90-minute classes) versus a 50-minute period," Tesar said.
In addition to the longer classes, Wednesday afternoons represent the most significant change to the standard school schedule. After students attend three of the 90-minute classes, many finish the day participating in the new Tiger Time program. It provides mandatory tutoring sessions for students with "D" and "F" grades while allowing other students to complete makeup assignments or participate in other scheduled activities.
Last year, 550 students at the high school -- roughly half the student body -- had at least one "D" or "F" on their report card, Johnson said. Having that many high school students fail their classes and retake the courses was simply unacceptable, he added.
The mandatory study sessions through Tiger Time seeks to put those teens back on a positive academic track. To date, the results seem promising.
After the first quarter of the current school year, the number of failing grades dropped by 33 percent. While Johnson couldn't directly attribute that change in student grades to the Tiger Time concept, "we are heading in the right direction, regardless of how we're getting there."
"It's a great opportunity for kids to come in and get their work done," said Tesar, who watched his number of failing students fall by nearly half after Tiger Time began. "It helps them stay on task... an incentive to get their work turned in and get out of that 'D' and 'F' category."
However, the principal was quick to point out that all students, not just the ones struggling with their grades, are welcome to take advantage of Tiger Time.
"I could have a 'B' but I can report to my calculus teacher (during Tiger Time) because I'm struggling a little bit," Johnson said.
But Tiger Time offers more than just academic help, the principal emphasized. Some teachers use this time to help their students hone their social skills or help others in the local community.
John Petti, who heads the Talkin' Tigers speech and debate, has about 50 of his students rehearsing or improving their presentations each Wednesday. Brenda Raub's Artopia Club students use these afternoons to teach art at West Elementary School. Meanwhile, students with the local National Honor Society chapter use Tiger Time to reach out to students at other elementary schools.
Tiger Time also gives military and college recruiters a designated time each week to meet with students. Previously, they were limited to meeting with teens during the lunch hour, which Johnson pointed out is "sacred time" for these students who would much rather use that time to eat or meet with their friends.
The results were almost immediate, Johnson said. Idaho State University went from meeting an average of just three students a week to more than 25 after Tiger Time began. Meanwhile, the school's first-ever military seminar featuring representatives from each military branch met with more than 100 students or about 95 more students than they would normally see previously, the principal said.
Johnson sees opportunities like these continuing to grow as Tiger Time evolves.
For example, the principal used one Tiger Time period last month to create a student panel where seniors met with freshmen to share their experiences and to help the underclassmen set realistic goals that their older counterparts discovered through trial and error. This peer-to-peer interaction was something the school couldn't do in year's past simply because there wasn't time during the school day.
"It went really well and was very beneficial," Johnson said.
Meanwhile, the principal met with the sophomores during a similar face-to-face meeting to address concerns and grievances.
"Those were just small things but I think they go a long way in building those relationships with kids," Johnson said. "Now I have the juniors asking when I'm going to meet with them, and that's a good thing."
For students like Jake Hennessey, the modified block schedule has its share of mixed blessings.
"I was kind of excited because class would be faster," the senior said. "But then I realized that I was going to have homework every night versus every other night, so I wasn't very excited about that."
Part of the Mountain Home School District since third grade, Hennessey admits it took about two weeks to adjust to the new bell times. "Instead of four bells a day, we now had up to seven," Hennessey said.
While he appreciates the shorter classes during the seven-period days, the jury's still out on the longer classes each Wednesday and Thursday.
"I hate the long class periods because it seems like it takes forever," he said. "It seems like those 90-minute classes are six hours long."