Success Period Bumps Schedule Down To Six
Classes
By Paige Baker
According to a news
release: “The Mooresville High School Administration and Guidance Department
have created a number of new courses to benefit MHS students and will be
implementing a new schedule system for 2013-2014 for students to maximize those
and other course offerings.”
Counselors will begin to
meet with students in the next few months to plan and schedule their
“educational path” for the upcoming year in addition to the high school years
that remain. While planning, students will be introduced to a new variety of
classes, further extending the high school credit.
“The hallmark of a good
21st century school is offering more personalized options,” Mooresville’s Chief
Learning Officer Scott Kern said.
MHS currently has five
dual credit courses and seven Advanced Placement course choices; however, an
additional thirteen dual credit courses will be added, which will earn a
student a high school credit as well as a post-secondary credit at Ivy Tech,
Vincennes University and or Indiana
University.
University.
In addition to the
thirteen new courses, MHS will offer several experience-based courses which
will earn students high school credits as well as certification through Ivy
Tech, including: Project Lead the Way Introduction to Engineering Design, Project
Lead the Way Principles of Engineering, Cadet Teaching, Computers in Design
& Production.
Based on the number of
interested students and students who had adequately met the requirements and
perquisites some courses will be offered every school year and others may
alternate each year.
“We believe offering
these additional dual credit courses and early college experiences will
increase the number of Mooresville students pursuing post-secondary education,”
MHS Interim Associate Principal Jennifer Perkins said. “The additional dual
credit courses will also appeal to more students with other interest levels.”
Next year, students at
MHS will also see new or re-worked courses including Honors and Advanced
Spanish, Visual Arts and Advanced Manufacturing. More varied options will be
available for junior and senior language arts classes for those who passed
their English 10 End of Course Assessment on the first try. The options include
poetry, novels, short stories and other possible courses. Students interested
in the medical field are encouraged to look into the Principals of Biomedical
Science course which involves the study of human medicine, research processes
and an introduction to bioinformatics
The MHS schedule will
also change slightly in 2013-2014 in order to provide a more personalized
approach to learning. Rather than a seven-period class day, students will have
six-period days with a flexible class period in place of the current fourth
period. Instead of 4th period, it will be called “Success Period”, being
utilized for many different learning experiences, from intervention to advanced
coursework.
“The Success Period will
provide opportunities for students to individualize their learning, whether
that means re-testing on an area they need to master, taking an advanced class,
taking an online class, taking part in an internship or having class or club
meetings,” MHS Director of Guidance Dr. Debra Page said.
Currently the
administration is creating mock schedules for classes and electives to prevent
as many conflicts as possible. The administration is creating the schedule in
this manner to decrease class sizes, eliminate unnecessary study halls, enhance
what the school has to offer students and ultimately create the personal and
academic connection between teachers and students.
“The goal of the success
period is to make our course offerings and experiences as individualized as
much as possible to meet the needs of all our learners. We want to create a
positive connection between staff and student,” Perkins said.
Page added that MHS staff
members are currently working on the final schedule as well as creating
opportunities such as visiting professors working with students during that
time. The students will also have a team of teachers from different areas to
work with during their success period and those teachers can provide assistance
with in-school assignments or online course work as needed.
“Even with state
mandates, we have choice and flexibility in how we design our school day,”
Superintendent Brad Lindsay said. “With these new options, students have more
choice and voice to pursue their passions. I think this will lead to increased
student achievement.”
Students will begin
scheduling for the new school year in February; the master schedule for
2013-2014 will be released in March. Questions about the course offerings
should be directed to the MHS Guidance Department at 831-9203.
