Samo implements new trial run of "flex" schedule

Starting the week of Nov. 19 and continuing until Nov. 30, the Samo administration will be implementing a trial run of a schedule to support student achievement by providing two days of "flex-time" which students may sign-up for. The schedule features a 53 minute support period during which students will be able to sign up to get support from any teacher on campus. The idea of find time during the school day is not a new concept for Samo. In fact, many members of the staff have been advocating for a support period for years. And the implementation of a trial run was stimulated by the recent Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation process at Samo. The evaluation pointed out that there is no time throughout the day for Samo students to get the help they need. And the Samo Site Leadership Team (SLT) began making plans to support the learning of struggling students and enrich the learning of high achieving students. “When we looked at the [WASC accreditation report] it said we need to think of things differently, think outside the box of what traditional education looks like. [Flex Schedule] is an opportunity during our structured school day for kids to eventually have enrichment, academic tutoring, and support,” Samo Principal Dr. Antonio Shelton said. If this trial run of the flex schedule receives positive feedback from the staff and students, another one could be carried out in the early spring of 2019. May 31 is the deadline for finalizing the schedule for following school year, so if both trial runs receive a good assessment from staff and students, it is possible that the flex-time schedule may be up and running in the 2019 fall semester.  Certificated staff must approve any schedule change by a two-thirds vote.Furthermore, Shelton is working with the PTA so that parents can give constructive criticism about the trial runs. To prepare for the trial run, the staff was being provided with training on how to teach for longer periods of time in their mandatory department meetings. Sarah Lipetz, Science Department Chair and member of the SLT strongly believes that these trainings are very beneficial for the students and staff. “What we don’t want to do to students is lecture for 90 minutes because I don’t think anybody thinks that’s a good idea for learning,” Lipetz said. The SLT has also asked teachers to be clear about their offerings during the flex-time. This way, students can sign up for the classroom that they think will be most beneficial to them. If there are no available slots or simply nothing that the student thinks would help them, there is an open silent study hall in the cafeteria and other locations on campus. The schedule was carefully crafted by many members of the SLT which is comprised of administrators, department chairs, teacher leaders and other campus members.  The SLT observed other schools in the state and created a new schedule that is influenced largely by Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, CA north of Santa Barbara. And though the SLT expects some missteps during the pilot, it remains optimistic about the potential for the flex-time schedule.“A lot of schools just implement change. We are really trying to bring everybody into the process and be open-minded about it and say that we’re going to try this, it may or may not work, but let’s work through it together,” Lipetz said.