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Added school time could cost students

By Staff | May 14, 2013

Time is hard to come by in high school. Administrators at Hollis Brookline High School believe they have found a way to give their students more time without adding hours to the day.

Members of the Hollis Brookline school board meet Wednesday to consider a plan to add an extra period to the day for students to use for extra help, community service and other activities.

The proposal, led by Principal Cindy Matte and other school administrators, follows a survey that shows more than two-thirds of students experience high levels of stress and struggle to balance school work with extra-
curricular activities like athletics and theater.

Under the plan, students would have a 45-minute “CAVBlock,” named after the school nickname, between 9:45-10:30 a.m. each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. During that time, students with failing grades would attend learning labs, in which teachers provide individualized instruction and proctor missed tests. Other students would be invited to use the school computer labs, library or study halls, and graduating seniors could use the session for approved activities off-campus, like community service and internships.

Supporters say this extra time would help students improve their grades and enhance their learning by helping them to better balance their school work and their extracurricular activities.

Of concern is that the change could also rob students, who already have the option of a study hall period, of valuable classroom time.

If approved, the new CAVBlock would shorten each class by 12 minutes each day, or 24 fewer minutes of instruction time per course per week. Over the course of a year, that would add up to more than 100 hours of lost classroom time.

For students who take advantage of the extra help, that could be time well spent. Certainly, individualized instruction time could be a benefit to students in need. But, for others, it could quickly devolve into a social hour best left for after school.

In this age of shrinking education budgets, resources are short. We urge the school board to use caution before making class time even shorter.

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