Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It's very sad that we have to grade to the lowest factor (to use an education comparison). We have to close campuses because some kids can't handle that freedom. Why not have open campus and then take away the privilege from those who prove they can't handle it?
In my area, the campuses are open, and always have been as far as I know, at least for juniors and seniors. When I went to school back in the 90s, everyone could leave for lunch. When my sister was in high school in the 00s, she had open campus. And when I drive by the high schools today, there are tons of cars leaving for lunch.
For me and my sister, it was a very positive thing. We lived less than a mile from the school so ALL my friends and later ALL my sister's friends often came to my house for lunch. Mom loved it because she got to know all of my friends really well. My sister always had "Sloppy Joe Thursday" where like 20 people would descend on the household for 30 minutes of sloppy joes. No one ever skipped class, no one ever got into an accident, no one ever smoked. Why should we not be able to have that experience?
Sure there are some bad apples, but they are going to find a way to get into trouble no matter what. MOST high schoolers behave themselves most of the time, and don't skip class because they left campus for lunch.
Also, there is something to be said for giving teenagers some degree of self responsibility before turning them loose in the world after graduation.
Why do all these schools have "off periods?" Our students have eight classes over two days, A/B block, and no one has any off periods. Why pay for students to be at school if they aren't in class?
Our high school has a 23-minute lunch. The school is surrounded by abandoned houses and empty lots where projects once stood. Most of our students ride the bus because they don't have cars. The closest restaurants are several blocks away. Our students mostly wouldn't have the money to buy lunch every day. The entire district offers free breakfast and lunch due to our socio-economics. For some students, it is their only access to food during the week. Their community is in a food desert with no grocery stores in the neighborhoods in our zone. Most students have no one at home who shops or cooks, so they eat junk food from convenience stores or fast food. Many of them don't really eat "meals", they just eat when they are hungry.
Our school is part of what is commonly called the schoolhouse-to-jailhouse pipeline. It is very prison-like, with students hyper-supervised nearly all the time. They are not allowed to go to lunch on their own. The teachers take them to the cafeteria and sit with them at designated tables. The one time in the last 26 years that we did not have that policy, there were massive fights and we returned to supervised lunch a week later.
I believe I am the only one who mentioned that our high school has eight periods. The high school is in the Denver metro, and it's honestly more like a community college than what most people think of as a high school, with multiple buildings situated on an expansive campus in the midst of a successful business district.
Why do we have eight periods? I can't really tell you, but it works, and it's been that way as long as I can recall. It might have something to do with getting 4000 students through all of their courses each day while also providing teachers with enough office hours to both prep and meet with students, but who knows. What I can tell you is that few classrooms are empty during the day during any period.
Beginning at 7:10, each period is fifty-one minutes long with a seven minute passing period. One period in addition to lunch is generally set aside for students to use at their discretion. Some use the time to work on group projects, attend post-grad (college planning) seminars, visit teachers during office hours, meet with school advisors/counselors, go to the library for personal study time, attend appointments/run errands off campus, or even just socialize with friends. Additionally, some AP classes, like Physics, are 1.5 periods long.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lhpartridge
...Our school is part of what is commonly called the schoolhouse-to-jailhouse pipeline. It is very prison-like, with students hyper-supervised nearly all the time. They are not allowed to go to lunch on their own. The teachers take them to the cafeteria and sit with them at designated tables. The one time in the last 26 years that we did not have that policy, there were massive fights and we returned to supervised lunch a week later.
How sad. Sounds entirely awful.
Also, please clarify something for me. How many credit hours are required for your students to graduate? At eight classes per year, are they really completing 32 credit hours by the end of senior year? What the heck are they taking in addition to the four core subject areas to keep them in school that long?
Last edited by randomparent; 12-13-2016 at 05:04 PM..
I believe I am the only one who mentioned that our high school has eight periods. The high school is in the Denver metro, and it's honestly more like a community college than what most people think of as a high school, with multiple buildings situated on an expansive campus in the midst of a successful business district.
Why do we have eight periods? I can't really tell you, but it works, and it's been that way as long as I can recall. It might have something to do with getting 4000 students through all of their courses each day while also providing teachers with enough office hours to both prep and meet with students, but who knows. What I can tell you is that few classrooms are empty during the day during any period.
Beginning at 7:10, each period is fifty-one minutes long with a seven minute passing period. One period in addition to lunch is generally set aside for students to use at their discretion. Some use the time to work on group projects, attend post-grad (college planning) seminars, visit teachers during office hours, meet with school advisors/counselors, go to the library for personal study time, attend appointments/run errands off campus, or even just socialize with friends. Additionally, some AP classes, like Physics, are 1.5 periods long.
How sad. Sounds entirely awful.
Also, please clarify something for me. How many credit hours are required for your students to graduate? At eight classes per year, are they really completing 32 credit hours by the end of senior year? What the heck are they taking in addition to the four core subject areas to keep them in school that long?
The students are double-dosed for the four classes with state graduation tests so that they have them for 1 1/2 hours every day rather than every other day. Also, many of our students fail numerous classes, so that even though only 25 credits are required for most diplomas, few can earn that many in four years. Our graduation rate is pitifully low and getting lower. One reason is the district instituted a no-fail policy that guaranteed a grade of 50 as a minimum. The students promptly fell below that so that there has been rampant failure ever since.
Sorry about going off-topic. I just think it's important for everyone to know the range of high school lunch experiences. No one really likes to think about the students in such situations, but they definitely exist. I doubt if the communities surrounding some schools would relish the idea of kids being loose during the school day. There is already enough juvenile crime during holiday breaks.
The students are double-dosed for the four classes with state graduation tests so that they have them for 1 1/2 hours every day rather than every other day. Also, many of our students fail numerous classes, so that even though only 25 credits are required for most diplomas, few can earn that many in four years. Our graduation rate is pitifully low and getting lower. One reason is the district instituted a no-fail policy that guaranteed a grade of 50 as a minimum. The students promptly fell below that so that there has been rampant failure ever since.
Sorry about going off-topic. I just think it's important for everyone to know the range of high school lunch experiences. No one really likes to think about the students in such situations, but they definitely exist. I doubt if the communities surrounding some schools would relish the idea of kids being loose during the school day. There is already enough juvenile crime during holiday breaks.
I understand, and I fully acknowledge that some high school students absolutely cannot handle that kind of freedom nor are many (most?) communities set up to accommodate such a system. I remind my kids every day not to take the education they are receiving for granted.
Sure, that's why we have open lunch. Long story short: it works. We have no higher a truancy rate than schools that do not allow students to come and go during their off periods, and our students graduate having developed the personal responsibility and time management skills to thrive in college. It's a good system.
It's foolish. Gee, maybe for 6 measly hours a day they could study and learn. The library, study halls, computer labs. You'd prefer they be at a fast food outlet or an arcade or over at Judy's house smoking pot.
I have mixed feelings about open campus. Our local high school had closed campus when my daughter attended and open when my son was there.
I dont think that it encourages kids who wouldn't skip class to do so.
Our high school is located within our suburban neighborhood so my hesitation has more to do with unsafe driving through the neighborhood in order to get back in time. And kids leaving fast food trash in yards and mailboxes, or tossing it out the window. And I live in a nice neighborhood in a middle to upper middle class school district. These kids know better.
It's foolish. Gee, maybe for 6 measly hours a day they could study and learn. The library, study halls, computer labs.
They do study and learn. We have a greater than 90% college attendance, perhaps because we treat our students with respect as young adults and give them the freedom to challenge themselves by pursuing a variety of academic interests. Honestly, I think this is one of the best public high schools I've ever encountered, and I would not change a thing. This is one top-notch program.
Here's what my senior has been doing with her off periods this semester: working in the post-grad center to prepare her college applications and meeting with university representatives from around the country as she narrowed down her choices, receiving Calculus tutoring off campus, collaborating with other students to complete projects for English and Physics, and meeting with her Model UN team to write their position papers. Her younger sibling has used his time to meet with a small group of English students and their teacher to receive extra help on composition and to meet with a group of students in a lab to work on a project for a robotics club. I don't consider any of that to be a waste of time or effort.
Last edited by randomparent; 12-13-2016 at 06:15 PM..
Why do all these schools have "off periods?" Our students have eight classes over two days, A/B block, and no one has any off periods. Why pay for students to be at school if they aren't in class?
Our school has 7 academic periods and kids are required to take 6 classes in 7-11 grade and 5 classes in 12 grade. They can take an additional elective or have an independent (study hall in middle school) period. Seniors can leave during lunch or their independent periods.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Long story short: it works. We have no higher a truancy rate than schools that do not allow students to come and go during their off periods, and our students graduate having developed the personal responsibility and time management skills to thrive in college. It's a good system.
