Gabino Hernandez believes he’ll be ready to move to Southeast Whitfield High School this fall when it’s time for him to go there.
“I think I’m ready, but after being at Valley Point (Middle School) so long, I just don’t want to leave,” he said.
Hernandez was one of several Valley Point students, teachers and parents who attended a recent Whitfield Board of Education meeting to talk about changes at their school. His comment about not wanting to leave came after Superintendent Danny Hayes asked a group of students whether they thought the middle school had prepared them to go on.
Principal Robyn Baggett said the school has completely revamped its scheduling this year, doing away with homeroom, starting school 10 minutes earlier at 8 a.m. and providing more time during the day for science, social studies and “connections” classes such as art, band and Spanish.
On top of that, she said, they’ve eliminated in-school suspension — apparently it was so much fun students acted out on purpose to get out of regular class — and they’ve scrapped a system introduced last school year in which students were divided into teams based on whether they were “gifted” or not. They also added time during the day for teacher training and AIR (acceleration, intervention, remediation) time — short periods in which students who are struggling with math or reading get extra help.
Baggett said it began after concerns began surfacing from students and teachers. Students didn’t like the team approach because so many “gifted” students weren’t allowed to be placed in classes with their “non-gifted” friends. They wanted more time for science and social studies where they could do projects. Last year, they had only 50 minutes for those subjects every other day but 75 minutes every day in language arts and math. They also wanted more than one “connections” class during the day.
Baggett said she surveyed and talked informally with students, parents and teachers to find out what they wanted. The result is a schedule this year that allows for 80 minutes each day in math, science, social studies and language arts as well as two 50-minute connections classes.
Valley Point now assigns after school suspension to students who get in trouble, something she said seems to be more of a deterrent so far. The number of office referrals is down from 303 to about 180 so far this year, she said. Each of the school’s 31 teachers takes one week during the school year to oversee after school suspension, and Robyn and her assistant principal take the other weeks.
School council member Kim Greene said many parents love Valley Point — they helped paint the bathrooms there, volunteer in other capacities and are involved in book clubs with teachers — but unfortunately they don’t feel a connection to Southeast Whitfield High School where their kids will go next. She said Southeast’s losing records in some sports is discouraging.
School board member Thomas Barton, whose daughter graduated from Southeast and coaches softball there, asked about what it would take to get parents on board.
“I think that sense of pride is being built, but I don’t think we’re quite there yet to be honest,” Greene said. “I’m hoping that changes ... I think it’s coming ... I think it’ll get there.”
Local News
Related Photos
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From left, Bailey Palmer, Jacob Cloer, Zach Mathis and Chelsea Elrod, seventh-graders at Valley Point Middle School, make adjustments to a toy they made for a student with Angelman Syndrome. Misty Watson/The Daily Citizen
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February 10, 2012
Valley Point Middle overhauls scheduling
- Local News
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Cleanup at MFG completed, investigation continues
OSHA is checking to see if the Dalton-based MFG Chemical on Callahan Road violated safety standards after an explosion there Monday. Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen
An investigation into a chemical rupture that blew a pressure release disk through the roof at MFG Chemical and through a wall at a neighboring carpet mill on Monday morning is ongoing by the Office of Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
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