Post by title1parent on Jun 17, 2008 6:39:57 GMT -5
West to raise middle school standards
June 17, 2008
By Elisabeth Kilpatrick ekilpatrick@scn1.com
In an effort to better prepare middle schoolers for the demands of high school, the West Aurora school district plans to toughen up its requirements for middle school students to pass to the next grade level.
Principals at each of the district's four middle schools detailed their plans at Monday's meeting, stressing the importance of students bridging the gap between the nurturing environment of elementary school and the more rigorous setting at West High.
"There is that transition piece," said Jewel Middle School Principal Greg Scalia after the meeting. "When they move on to this huge high school with 3,500 students, there's a disconnect."
Right now, students are required to pass between two and three of their core classes for the year in order to progress to the next grade level. With each student taking seven courses each of the four quarters of the year, it's possible for students to only pass eight of their 28 classes, Herget Middle School Principal Scott Woods explained.
At Herget, 23 percent of students received at least one "F" on their report card in a recent quarter. Scalia and Jefferson Middle School Principal Patricia Cross said the percentage of students failing was similar at their schools.
"We have to up the ante," Cross said. "If we expect better, we get better."
Under the new requirements, students will need to pass at least 20 of their 28 classes in order to go on to the next grade level. To help students accomplish that, the middle schools will offer after-school homework help to students who have failed a course. If a student attends homework help for the course and passes the subject the following quarter, they can make up the credit from the previous quarter.
The middle schools also plan to offer summer school, which they discontinued in 2006 after perceiving that too many students were using it as an excuse to fail during the school year.
"Eliminating summer school sent a message to the kids," Scalia said. "You can't make up the year in 28 days."
The revamped summer school program will only be open to students who have passed between 13 and 19 of their courses, the principals said.
Board members agreed with the need to push tougher standards in the middle schools and emphasized communication with parents as middle schools changed their requirements.
"This needs to be understandable to a parent," Superintendent Jim Rydland said.
June 17, 2008
By Elisabeth Kilpatrick ekilpatrick@scn1.com
In an effort to better prepare middle schoolers for the demands of high school, the West Aurora school district plans to toughen up its requirements for middle school students to pass to the next grade level.
Principals at each of the district's four middle schools detailed their plans at Monday's meeting, stressing the importance of students bridging the gap between the nurturing environment of elementary school and the more rigorous setting at West High.
"There is that transition piece," said Jewel Middle School Principal Greg Scalia after the meeting. "When they move on to this huge high school with 3,500 students, there's a disconnect."
Right now, students are required to pass between two and three of their core classes for the year in order to progress to the next grade level. With each student taking seven courses each of the four quarters of the year, it's possible for students to only pass eight of their 28 classes, Herget Middle School Principal Scott Woods explained.
At Herget, 23 percent of students received at least one "F" on their report card in a recent quarter. Scalia and Jefferson Middle School Principal Patricia Cross said the percentage of students failing was similar at their schools.
"We have to up the ante," Cross said. "If we expect better, we get better."
Under the new requirements, students will need to pass at least 20 of their 28 classes in order to go on to the next grade level. To help students accomplish that, the middle schools will offer after-school homework help to students who have failed a course. If a student attends homework help for the course and passes the subject the following quarter, they can make up the credit from the previous quarter.
The middle schools also plan to offer summer school, which they discontinued in 2006 after perceiving that too many students were using it as an excuse to fail during the school year.
"Eliminating summer school sent a message to the kids," Scalia said. "You can't make up the year in 28 days."
The revamped summer school program will only be open to students who have passed between 13 and 19 of their courses, the principals said.
Board members agreed with the need to push tougher standards in the middle schools and emphasized communication with parents as middle schools changed their requirements.
"This needs to be understandable to a parent," Superintendent Jim Rydland said.