Schedules changing at middle schools

Most St. Charles Parish middle school students can say good-bye to their current schedules next year. Starting this fall, all parish middle schools will have six, 60-minute periods each day.

The change is being made to put all middle schools on the same type of daily schedule. Currently, each school has a variety of schedules depending on grade level and subject matter - there is no uniformity.

“The point here is that there are inconsistencies between our schools,” Felecia Gomez, assistant superintendent of secondary schools and quality assurance, said during a committee meeting last week.

The new schedule will insure that all middle school students have classes in math, reading, writing, science and social studies every day. Physical education and exploratory classes, such as band and art, will rotate each week.

“There will be unique features from school to school, but overall the core areas…will have 60 minutes of class each day,” Gomez said.

The additional class each day will consist of PE as well as other exploratory classes. Students are required to have 150 minutes of physical education per week.

“I think consistency is the perfect solution,” said School Board member Melinda Bernard.

Gomez said that while the change coincides with all parish middle schools housing 6th grade students in 2012, it was not made because of that.

“It’s not driving this, but (a consistent schedule) will help us to better prepare for the 6th grade,” Gomez said.
The School Board also discussed redistricting during April committee meetings.

Like the parish, school districts must be redrawn every 10 years to accommodate for growth or shifts in population. The administration said that South Central Planning will hopefully be available for the May School Board committee meeting to discuss preliminary options for the upcoming redistricting.

Though the districts don’t need to be redrawn until the 2014 election, the School Board said they would like to move ahead in the coming months.