Extended Learning Time introduced in new bell schedule
Students in Mrs. Femali’s homeroom using Extended Learning Time to catch up on homework. Extended Learning Time was added into the bell schedule for the 2022-2023 school year. “I believe our students will greatly benefit from ELT. For students who are involved in sports, but want to be involved in other clubs, this will give them an opportunity to meet during the school day and not have to choose between one or the other. For students who need to make up class work or retake tests, this will give them an opportunity during the school day without giving up their time before or after school,” history teacher Jared Marshall said.
September 15, 2022
The bell schedule looks a little different than last year. Late starts have been removed, homeroom and lunch have been shortened and most importantly, Extended Learning Time has been added into the schedule.
“Extended Learning Time is a block of time that allows students to focus on whatever they need more time with. This could include getting extra help from one of their teachers, making up for a missed lab, re-taking an assessment, or just extra time to get work done. It will also be a time when clubs or groups can meet, eliminating the need for lunch meetings and reducing conflicts with after school activities,” Principal Bryant Bednarek said.
Extended Learning Time or ELT will be held on Wednesdays. The ELT days will not be set, however, they will typically be held on five-day weeks.
“If we don’t have clubs that need to meet or the teachers don’t feel we need an ELT, we might skip a week here and there as well. That is the nice thing about it. We can use it when we need it. We also plan to have some school-wide activities during ELT throughout the year. It creates a lot of flexibility,” Bednarek said.
ELT will allow a longer period of time for clubs like Link Crew to meet. With the longer period, clubs will be able to do more with the time that they have.
“Link Crew is all about focusing on freshmen to help them transition better into high school and feel like they belong to our high school. Link Crew will be popping in during homerooms periodically but we are really excited to be able to do some longer activities such as games and activities with our freshman homerooms during the ELT time,” Link Crew adviser Andi Woyak said.
Teachers who are in charge of clubs will be able to sign up for time slots during ELT to hold meetings. Teachers will also be able to spend more time with their homeroom students.
“I will be using ELT in many different ways. At the beginning of the year, I will be using it to connect more with my homeroom students. As the year progresses, I will be bringing students in who need to make up or retake a test, are behind on school work, or just need a little extra help in class. I will also be using this time to have Ski and Snowboard Club sign up in October,” history teacher Jared Marshall said.
The overall purpose of ELT is for students to have more time to focus on things that they need to.
“I actually do like that homeroom is an hour long. I also like the shorter classes but I miss late starts. Other people like it because they get to go to their clubs,” senior Shaddia Garza said.
