Do you know where your child is? In some middle schools around the region, your seventh-grader might be in math Mondays at 9 a.m., but in social studies Thursdays at that hour and in math after lunch.

Brookfield, Ridgefield and Newtown have varying takes on the schedule that rotates what times students take core subjects like math, English, social studies, science and foreign language. Students say the changing schedule keeps boredom at bay. Teachers say it ensures they have children at their most receptive at least once a week. "It just shifts. It's less boring. I like how it shifts," said seventh-grader Armand Norelli, 11, who attends Whisconier Middle School in Brookfield. "It's not the same thing every day.'' Brookfield middle-schoolers have a one-hour class first thing in the morning, followed by two 45-minute-classes. They then have an hour-long gym/health class, followed by a half-hour study hall and a half-hour lunch. The day ends with two more 45-minute classes. "I like how there is a big break between classes - from gym, study hall and lunch - before the afternoon classes,'' said seventh-grader Lauren Pelczar, 12. "It doesn't get boring.'' Lauren said she notices everyone's yawning in the first-period class, especially on Mondays. She said she's most alert during the first class after lunch, while Armand does his best in the last class before gym. That's one of the reasons teachers like the rotating schedule. The system tries to find ways for students to do their best and stay on their toes, said Whisconier principal Eugenia Slone. "These students grow so much from when they come at the age of 10 to when they leave at 13,'' Slone said. "I don't know if they need (rotation) but they like it better, and the staff prefers it as well because kids come into class with different mind-sets." The National Middle School Association promotes having flexible blocks of time, like 90 minutes that can be used for two classes or one extended class. "There are hundreds of ways to schedule middle schools, and the staff must look at what's best for students. The flexible chunks of time are critical, as opposed to the 40-minute fixed class times,'' said Linda Robinson, a former middle-school principal and past president of the association. "At my school, we would flip our morning and afternoon courses at the different grade levels. We saw that kids who were asleep in the morning were stars in the afternoon.'' Middle schools must be flexible to adjust to the great changes the students undergo in those three years, said Linda Hopping, a former middle-school principal and president of the Georgia Middle School Association. "There are more changes in middle-school students than at any other time in their lives, except from birth to 3,'' she said. Elementary teachers have self-contained classrooms and can be flexible on their own, but middle-school students move from class to class so teachers have to build flexibility into the schedule, Hopping said. High schools don't have much flexibility in scheduling now, but she said the high school reform movement is moving toward it, especially at the ninth-grade level. Ridgefield's two middle schools have rotating schedules. At East Ridge Middle School, teams of teachers in the four core-subject areas are assigned to 80 to 100 students in clusters, another precept of the philosophy behind the structure of middle schools. The team of teachers share common planning times and also share blocks of teaching time. Some teams rotate course schedules every day, and all collaborate on interdisciplinary lessons. "It really is the middle-school concept,'' said Martin Fiedler, who has been a middle-school principal for 21 years, including four in Ridgefield. "It's a very successful model." At Newtown Middle School, students rotate the two morning core classes and the two afternoon classes each day. "Some kids come in sleepy and some kids tire out early,'' principal Diane Sherlock said. "It has to do with more than sleepiness. Different kids have different learning styles. Allowing kids to experience math the first thing in the morning means that different kids will maximize that time. "For the same reason you vary the instruction practices, you vary the time. It's one of the tools to the way kids learn." Newtown seventh-grade science teacher Valerie Leone has seen how students benefit. "It also helps their organization in middle school, to try to promote self-directed learning. It requires them to stay organized and know their schedules," Leone said. She couldn't quantify the benefits of rotation, but said they are there. "It's not tangible. I've seen homework completion go up,'' she said. "If they are habitually late, they are not missing the same class. Anecdotally, I've seen a difference."

Contact Eileen FitzGerald


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