Blessed Sacrament School’s middle school changes improve learning

Students are more interested and involved after schedule and curriculum changes that allow them to explore subjects more deeply

(SAVANNAH, Georgia) – May 31, 2011 – Any parent knows middle school children are at a crossroad, caught between childhood and adulthood, with their own unique needs. Blessed Sacrament School decided to craft a special approach to meet those needs. Exciting new curriculum changes for the 2010-2011 school year, along with an understanding of the middle school-age child, have reignited students’ interest in school.   

The teachers knew that students who are interested will learn better, and they knew hands-on activities and a chance to explore subject matter more deeply would keep students engaged and learning. One change was block scheduling, which gives longer class periods on Thursdays and Fridays.

“It allows you to really get into class activities during a longer period of time rather than having to start and stop many times,” said Blessed Sacrament student Maggie Iannone. She also likes that BSS has given middle school students some additional privileges. “BSS also came up with a middle school mass that had a lot of music and the message was targeted toward middle schoolers.”

Maggie’s mother, Robyn Iannone, appreciates that the school is very sensitive to listening to the middle schoolers and is trying new things.

“I like the willingness to try different approaches with the kids,” Iannone said. “They appreciate the opportunity to be treated like young teenagers rather than like elementary students. I like that grades 6-8 are in school with the younger students to mentor them while still enjoying their own childhood.”

Blessed Sacrament teachers and administrators attended a two-day summer retreat last year to learn about the unique needs of the middle school learner and study how to best meet these students’ needs. They created exploratory classes that interest these young people, and decided to introduce a modified block schedule to give students more time to explore topics in depth.

 “We wanted to take a close look at the middle school and discuss what was working and what needed improvement,” said BSS teacher Ethel Tuttle. Now, after a year of the new system, the teachers are seeing how well their ideas are working.   

The new modified block schedule allows for each class to meet either on Thursday or Friday for 80 minutes instead of the usual 45 minutes. In science classes, for example, labs and activities are now part of the weekly lesson plan.

Every Friday the school has speakers or activities geared towards the middle school student.  For example, the speakers included a contributing author to “Chicken Soup for the Teenager’s soul,” the anti-smoking representative from Memorial Health, and the GBI representative for Internet Safety.

In addition to the required activity classes, there is also one “Choice Class” offered each quarter.  Students can choose the class that interests them the most, from Model United Nations to Historical Studies. On Fridays, students have 80-minute “Mini-Courses” such as robotics and neighborhood design.

While the students are in the mini-courses with other teachers and specialists, all middle school teachers have a collaborative planning time.  This gives the teachers the opportunity to plan together and coordinate trips and tests so that students are not overwhelmed with too many special events or tests on any given day.  It also gives the teachers a chance to communicate what is working in their classrooms and to get suggestions on better ways to reach a particular group.  Teachers also have extended time for planning the next week’s lessons.

One of the fun changes on the Middle School floor is the two-bell system.  The first bell signals the end of class and gives students the chance for socialization before the second bell rings to signal the beginning of the next class.  The students enjoy the freedom, and they tend to settle down and focus on classwork better after a couple of minutes chatting with their friends.