School administrators are considering purchasing new, more mobile desks that can be easily rearranged. Currently, Mrs. Delia Gadziola's classes are trying them out. Photo by: Matthew Libersky
By Matthew Libersky
In addition to implementing the one-to-one computing initiative with laptops, the administration has a number of other changes for the 2011-2012 school year.
Most of the planned changes stem off of the planned implementation of MacBooks. One of these involves the policies outlined in the student handbook.
Currently, students are not allowed to take any sort of bag or backpack into class. However, Principal Mr. Jim Condon said that he is working with students, staff, parents and the school board to revise that policy to reflect the change in what students have (and don’t have) to carry.
Mr. Condon said that they will also be revising the attendance policy. The finalized changes will be published during the summer in a newsletter.
Also, the school is sampling and considering purchasing new desks for a number of classrooms. The new desks are smaller and more portable and allow teachers to easily arrange them into different layouts beyond traditional rows to partners and small groups.
The primary reason for the potential purchase of these desks is to afford better mobility once students receive laptops next school year. Mr. Condon also said that they are considering utilizing the desks in the New Tech high school program that is planned to begin in the Fall of 2012.
The administration plans to continue preparing for the New Tech high school program throughout the next school year. As one of the aspects of the programs is “integrated” classes where teachers of related subjects teach one large class of students, some rooms are going to be merged.
The program will also focus on creating more “real-life” experience for students. For instance, Mr. Condon said that in an engineering class, a local engineer may come in and comment on or assess students’ work. Additionally, some classes will try to integrate solving more “real-life” problems rather than textbook assignments.
The classes in the program will be double-blocked, meaning that two classes will be merged together into a two hour block.
The New Tech high school program will begin with the graduating class of 2016 when they enter high school. Enrollment in New Tech will be on an application-only basis. The plan is to admit 100 students per cohort, resulting in a maximum of 400 students in the whole school.