Depew School Board urged to OK freshman seminar program
Depew High School administrators are hoping to get the green light from the Board of Education for a freshman seminar program aimed at getting more ninth-graders into college- level classes.
In a presentation at Tuesday’s board meeting, high school Principal Carol Townsend and other administrators and teachers addressed issues raised by some board members last April when the program was dealt a setback.
Administrators hope to get the board OK to implement the program as part of the Freshman Academy at the high school for the 2009-10 school year. The freshman seminar is a special program worth half a credit toward graduation requirements.
Issues included:
• Timing — It was argued in April that some department chairmen and parents of eighth-graders were unaware of the proposal, which would have been implemented in September.
Townsend said high school staff is now knowledgeable about the program, which will be explained to parents of eighth-graders at freshman orientation this February and in letters sent home.
• Limits on choices of electives — Townsend said elective choices “are still limited but not to the extent that we thought originally.”
“Every other day, alternatives” in music, art, technology and business would be scheduled that should not pose conflicts with students’ academic course work requirements, she added.
• Making the program mandatory — Townsend said, “We will recommend all freshmen take this, but we realize we have to be flexible. Some might not be able to fit it in, but we recommend that it be taken somewhere” within the high school years.
• Staffing — Townsend believes she has adequate staff to handle the seminar program plus other Freshman Academy work. She said the forecast is for 172 freshmen next September, down from the current 200.
In response to a question from board Vice President Barbara Staebell, Townsend said administrators looked at reducing the lunch period from 40 to 30 minutes and even staggering lunch times throughout the day. But they decided that would “tighten schedules rather than loosening them.”
She assured Staebell that students are being encouraged to take their lunch periods because “they need a break during their day.”
In April, Staebell claimed students were being encouraged to skip lunch or to combine lunch with a class, a contention Townsend disputed.
The Freshman Academy was started in the 2005-06 school year to improve student achievement on standardized tests and increase graduation rates.
Tuesday, the board learned that the percentage of freshmen failing three or more courses in the first quarter dropped from 17 percent in 2005-06 to 11.9 percent this year.
In other business, the board approved a $51,592 contract with Cannon Design for additional services related to furniture purchases for the $33 million capital project. Superintendent Kim Mueller said the money will come from the project’s incidental cost account. Cannon will meet with building principals a bout the design of furniture and library and science lab needs, bid the purchases and supervise installation.
