grrrrr!!

[tumblerK]

Just a short rant about the school systems...

For next year my school district has to compensate for almost a six million dollar deficit. This means a bunch of staff and classes are being cut including AP Bio, Physics, French I, IV, and V, the school newspaper, and student government just to name a few. The only one that effects me is French V which was supposed to be CITS and the college credit is pretty much the only reason that I stayed in French past level two. We are however, adding MANDARIN CHINESE to the list of languages for next year. French 5 is being offered as an online course but I donno if i'm going to take it.


At my school there used to be a 7 peroid school day but a couple years ago it was cut down to 6, again, due to budget cuts. Some students couldn't get all the credits necessary to graduate because of scheduling issues, so there is something called zero hour which means that a couple classes are before school, and it's the same as the rest of the day, it just starts at 8:10 and the rest of the school starts at 9:05. Apparently all zero hour classes are being either eliminated or switched to a different hour in the day. It totally sucks and I am glad that next year is my senior year but I would rather be getting out of there now!!

[NYgymfan]

Dang, tumblerk, your school is way different then mine! We had 8 period days up until a few years ago. Parents complained that their kids couldn't fit enough AP classes into their schedules to be competative enough to get into top colleges, so the school board moved us to a 9 period day. And wow, you start really late! Not sure why a school would start so late...we have to be in by 7:30, but we are out by a little after 2. I would think it would kind of suck being involved in a lot of after-school stuff if you weren't getting out until like 3:45...especially activities that take up a lot of time, like gymnastics!

But wow that really sucks that they have to cut so much. Student govt. and newspaper are two of my main activities. Although I'm not sure exactly how that would save a ton of money...most of our class funds come from fundraising. It really sucks that they are cutting high-level classes though, since those classes are what makes the smartest students successful and competative in terms of getting into colleges.

When my district's budget vote is up for vote, it usually involves either a property-tax increase (for yes vote), or cutting stuff (for no-vote). The school board is smart...they don't want to hurt the students so they don't threaten to cut classes, sports, or after school stuff. They always threaten to cut school busses. State law says that they have to provide busses only to students who live more than 3 miles from the school....and since no one in my district lives more than 2 miles from the school, they can technically get away with eliminating the busses altogether. Cut the school busses and make the parents have to drive their kids to school is motivation for the parents to vote yes for the budget. And they always do...budget never been voted down in all the years i've been in school.

[tumblerK]

I guess statistically studies have found that when high school's have a later start time that there is better attendance. We get out of school at 3:20 and i guess that's kinda late. Some of the classes are being cut is because not enough people signed up and the others i guess they are cutting so they don't have to pay the staff to teach it. It's totally messed up. There's plans in place to have one of three of the high schools in my city closed. My school is kinda ghetto too. There are more average and lower standard students than over-achievers. I don't think parents could get the school to add more AP classes or that enough of them would care... at least I'm getting out of there next year.

[NYgymfan]

You know, life is all about how you make do with sometimes less than ideal situations. Do your best, and you will be fine. Remember that colleges do take into account things like what classes are offered so they won't blame you for not taking AP French if they cut the class out your senior year.

I come from a school full of overachievers in an area full of overachievers. Apparently parents are willing to be taxed through the nose to support our schools, which I guess isn't true in a lot of other places. Honestly, its frustrating sometimes because the bar is set so high. And if you are from the New York City/Boston/Washington DC areas, it is actually harder to get into colleges than if you are from the midwest or Wyoming or almost anywhere else, because colleges often place limits on how many students they admit from various geographic areas of the country.

I think I might actually like later start times though! I am always falling asleep during first period (English class!).

[Laura]

wow! School in the US is very different to in Australia!!
How on earth do you fit 9 periods in one day?? At my school we only have 4!!! they are 80 minutes each. We start school at 8:30 and finish at 3:20. Do you get lunch and recess?

TumblerK I hope everything works out for you and you can get all the classes you want! Good luck and enjoy your final year at school!

[NYgymfan]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Laura wow! School in the US is very different to in Australia!! How on earth do you fit 9 periods in one day?? At my school we only have 4!!! they are 80 minutes each. We start school at 8:30 and finish at 3:20. Do you get lunch and recess?

Some HS's have "block scheduling". I'm still not fully understanding how it works exactly, but they have less periods a day. Our day used to be 8 periods of 44 minutes each, and then they changed it to 9 periods of 41 minutes each. 4 minutes to change classes. I don't know how people can do 80 minute classes. I get figity and restless easily after only 41 minutes, and when we have double back-to-back periods in physics every other day I'm like going insane before the end!! Its just too long to sit still and listen to the teacher. We do get lunch...its either 4th, 5th, 6th, or 7th period. We are allowed to leave school for lunch in High School since there are a bunch of pizza places and bagel shops and delis on the same block as the school. No recess though In elementary school we had 20 minute lunch and 30 mins of recess right after. In middle school we just had lunch and after you finished eating you can socialize with friends but you can't leave the lunch room.

[maddiekate]

We've got the block system. you can take 4 90 minute classes or 3 90 minute classes and 2 40 minute classes. Periods 1 and 2 are the same for everyone, period 3/4/5 (one is lunch) is where the option is, and everyone has period 6. We start at 7:50 and go to 3. Next year i'm only doing 1st and 2nd period, so i get out at 11. Then i will take college classes at a nearby com college. We also have 4 terms. Most classes are 2 terms = 1 semester, but we have one set of classes 1&3 term and the second set of classes 2&4 term.

lunch is 36 minutes long. we can't go off campus. only juniors and seniors can drive to school. we aren't allowed to go to the parking lot during the school day. passing periods are 6 minutes. tardy sweeps suck. we don't have lockers. my school is pretty weird.


my psych class ended today, all the rest of my classes end on the 5th.

[gracefulone]

Beleive me I know where you're coming from. My dad's on the school board, so I see first hand what's going on.

Back to your original post about Fr. 5 being online, I'd say take it! I did French 2 online and skipped from Fr3 to Fr4 at semester and am now a Fr5 a year early...so I could help you out if needed, too.

I also have a version of block scheduling. We have 5 70-min classes and one 30 min advisory(like homeroom I guess) every day. Everyone has a built in study hall once every three days.We also have three days A,B, and C. Your schedule is different each day ,and lunch is 40 min long. I know it sounds confusing, pretty much everyone really likes it. Here's a sample.

A day (my easiest day!): 1) AP Eng. 2) AP Fr. 3)advisory lunch 4)Orchestra 5)Econ. 6)Studyhall (it's the same for everyone)

B day: 1)Ap Eng. 2) Honors Pre-calc 3) advisory lunch 4)orchestra 5) AP US 6)physics

C day: 1) AP Fr. 2)Honors Pre-calc 3) advisory 4)econ lunch 5) AP US 6) Physics.

We also have problems with classes not running. AP chem was not available at all this year (it will be next year though! ), and AP government almost didn't run (for next year) because our district had to raise class size minimums that are very hard to meet for advanced courses. I feel your pain

[Kayleigh]

Quote:
Originally Posted by maddiekate We've got the block system. you can take 4 90 minute classes or 3 90 minute classes and 2 40 minute classes. Periods 1 and 2 are the same for everyone, period 3/4/5 (one is lunch) is where the option is, and everyone has period 6. We start at 7:50 and go to 3. Next year i'm only doing 1st and 2nd period, so i get out at 11. Then i will take college classes at a nearby com college. We also have 4 terms. Most classes are 2 terms = 1 semester, but we have one set of classes 1&3 term and the second set of classes 2&4 term. lunch is 36 minutes long. we can't go off campus. only juniors and seniors can drive to school. we aren't allowed to go to the parking lot during the school day. passing periods are 6 minutes. tardy sweeps suck. we don't have lockers. my school is pretty weird. my psych class ended today, all the rest of my classes end on the 5th.

I'm pretty sure we'll be doing the same thing next year. I didn't quite understand the whole block thing, but now it makes sense. Gracias for explaining!

And actually, tumblerK, my previous school is doing the same thing, eliminating classes and such. They're making so many people mad... it's bordering on rediculous. Glad to be out of the whole mess. Hopefully everything works out for you... at least you only have 1 more year to go through!

[Laura]

Quote:
Originally Posted by NYgymfan Some HS's have "block scheduling". I'm still not fully understanding how it works exactly, but they have less periods a day. Our day used to be 8 periods of 44 minutes each, and then they changed it to 9 periods of 41 minutes each. 4 minutes to change classes. I don't know how people can do 80 minute classes. I get figity and restless easily after only 41 minutes, and when we have double back-to-back periods in physics every other day I'm like going insane before the end!! Its just too long to sit still and listen to the teacher. We do get lunch...its either 4th, 5th, 6th, or 7th period. We are allowed to leave school for lunch in High School since there are a bunch of pizza places and bagel shops and delis on the same block as the school. No recess though In elementary school we had 20 minute lunch and 30 mins of recess right after. In middle school we just had lunch and after you finished eating you can socialize with friends but you can't leave the lunch room.

thanks for explaining! yeah, 80 minutes can get tiring sometimes but you do get heaps done! When I was in yr 7 we had 6 periods of 50 minutes then it changed in yr 8 to the 4x80. I think i like longer periods better.
Our day would be:
8:30- 8:50 = homeroom
8:50 - 10:10 = period 1
10:10-10:30 = recess - lol... yes we still get recess even in high school!! but it sounds different to yours. We call "morning tea" recess so it's basically like lunch but shorter)
10:30 - 11:40 = period 2
11:45- 1:00 = period 3
1:00-2:00 = lunch - we have no cafeteria or lunch room etc and we can't leave the school. we have a canteen/tuck shop where you can buy stuff though. We just eat outside wherever we want to or in the classrooms if the teachers don't find you and kick you out!! lots of people play sports or have practices or rehearsal during lunch time as well
2:00 - 3:15 = period 4
3:15-3:20 = afternoon homeroom and then hometime!!

Most schools in australia that I know of follow a similar structure just with slightly different times and probably different numbers/lenghts of periods.

It's interesting to hear how things like this are different around the world!