Sometimes it seems like our Helena school superintendent is saying just that, "Who needs school anyway?"Students are out of class all the time. Eighth graders go over to elementary schools and elementary students go over to the high school and then receive them back, meanwhile upper grade elementary students go to see the younger elementary students every week. Then there's community service and teacher workshops along with early release days and the assemblies and artists in residency for at least a week at a time. Who's worried about teaching?
The new program, consistent release time, will have children staying an extra 5 minutes or 15 minutes a day depending on the grade. Sounds good - more teaching time - but no- as a result of the extra minutes students will have FOUR DAYS off of school. A district where more than two thirds of the Helena Schools failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress benchmarks and which is below the state average in math at every grade level is now taking four additional days off school so teachers can attend workshops! Does this make sense?!! Maybe only if academics is not the most important thing you are doing.
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