D230 Students Expected to Start School 30 Mins Earlier in August

In effort to extend tutoring and other services beyond class work help, Consolidated High School District 230 administrators are planning to start school days 30 minutes earlier during the 2013-2014 school year.

Freshmen and sophomores at Carl Sandburg High School, Amos Alonzo Stagg High School and Victor J. Andrew High School now have access to a 25-minute advisory period during the day with the same teacher, but the change would expand the program to all students and also add variety to the study period.

With current bus schedules, not all students can take advantage of the program, said D230 spokesperson Carla Erdey.

“We’re looking at making sure the same opportunities are available for all students, as well as meeting with teachers, enrichment opportunities and looking at particular skills,” Erdey said.

Two days a week students will be in a structured advisory period with the same teacher for all four years of school. Those two classes will have specific lesson plans, while the other three days a week will be more open ended.

“Peer tutors will be available,” Erdey said. “We now have math resource centers set up during lunch. This moves that to a class where a teacher is assigned. All subjects will be covered. Some students would be assigned based on certain needs, while other students may not be assigned and can drop in.”

Aside from academia, the additional period will also be used for clinics on bullying, time management, study skills and appropriate technology use, Erdey said.

“All the areas we hear students need, both from them and their parents,” Erdey said.

Students taking zero hour will also be starting 10 minutes earlier, at 6:55 a.m. instead of 7:05 a.m. The district also is working on bus route scheduling to accommodate the change, according to Erdey.

“It’s a change but students will have to get used to starting a half hour earlier,” Erdey said. “Other schools out there start even earlier.”

Changing the start time can be decided by the administration without board vote, though the schedule change is expected to be discussed at Wednesday night’s D230 board meeting, Erdey said.

“We are making plans for this to happen next school year, though discussion about it continues,” she said.

Read more about the schedule change on D230’s website.

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