The San Diego Unified School District wants to see more students graduate prepared for college or a career. District leaders hope a new schedule will help.
At some high schools, students take six classes each year. At others, students take four classes in the first semester, then four others in the second semester. That gives students more class periods each year and more time to meet their goals.
On Tuesday, the school board approved a plan to switch Mira Mesa, Madison and Canyon Hills High Schools from a six-period schedule to a four-period schedule.
The change will give students more opportunities to retake classes they’ve failed, said Canyon Hills High School Principal Erica Renfree. Right now, her students have to retake classes before school, after school or during the summer.
“A child that fails multiple classes freshman year already, mathematically, is running out of time, just between graduation and how many courses you can take in summer school,” she said. “They are not on track to get a diploma.”
English learners have even more scheduling constraints, said Deputy Superintendent Nicole DeWitt. California requires English language learners to take a language development course.
“That’s one more slot in your six-period day,” she said. “Now you don’t have the flexibility to take another course.”
School leaders have been gathering feedback from students, parents and staff. They said students were looking forward to taking fewer classes at once and having more room in their schedules for electives.
Mira Mesa High School Principal Jeff Sabins said it will help reduce stress as students plan their schedules around college applications.
“Our kids are stressing themselves out in a major way to try to be competitive to get into these schools,” he said.
One concern has been the timing of advanced placement (AP) exams. A student who takes an AP class in the first part of the year might not remember everything by the time AP exams roll around in spring.
But Lori Williams, an instructional coordinator at James Madison High School, said the new schedule could make it easier for students to earn college credit another way: enrolling in college courses while in high school.
“A student takes an AP class all year long, then they hope that they pass the test with a grade that they will count for college credit, and then you hope that the college that they're going to accept that AP score for that credit,” she said. “That's a lot of ifs for a yearlong investment of time.”
In that same amount of time, students could take multiple college classes, she said.
Shaun Hunter is the parent of an 11th grader at Mira Mesa High School. His daughter is still uncertain about the switch, he said.
“How is this being rolled out in a way that she can pick her classes and feel comfortable with it?” he asked the board on Tuesday. “She's pretty stressed out about not knowing how it's going to go next year for her senior year and have to pick those classes now.”
District leaders said they’ve been working with counselors to prepare for upcoming course selections. They’ll help students pick classes over the next several weeks.
