OT - Our school force-moved us to D-Track!

[nessz79]

Squeak as loud as you can. It seems incredible to me that they can just randomly change people's schedules like that!

I'm shocked, too! Wow- I've never heard of a system like this and I'm a teacher! I'm very glad we have a traditional schedule, although some of the year-round schedules that have been described here sound fine also.

 

[Starr W.]

I never heard of the track system before BUT

Where I teach we have a wonderful "alternative" calendar. Students start August 1 and finish May 31. We get two weeks in October, two weeks at Christmas, and two weeks in March off, plus holidays. Teachers start back in late July. Its enough of a summer break, but not so much that we get bored. October is a wonderful time for a trip--not so hot--not so crowded--to lots of places. We love this calendar and hope to never have to have "traditional" again. A break every nine weeks prevents burnout for teachers and students.

My accountant's kids go to one of the Catholic schools that run this schedule. They only get 1 week off in October and split the Spring break into 2-1 week breaks(unless Easter is early like this year).
She really likes it.


The Track system gets mentioned here every so often. I've heard they may have to implement it in the next few years at our middle school. My eldest is a 5th grader and his class is the smallest of the K-12 right now. Unfortunately they had hoped to get a levy passed for the last few years and the addition would have opened in the fall. The incoming 5th, 4th and 3rd grade classes are huge compared to the current 6-8th grades right now.

I doubt it will happen, we have a very vocal community who will go nuts about it. They are still complaining about not having Spring Break at Easter 2 yrs ago, the nerve of the school board.

 

[DevilDuckie]

My daughter was in a class with 18 boys and 4 girls - and they pulled her OUT of her class. Doesn't gender balance matter in her grade???

They had to move her so all your kids would be together. Could be a LOT worse- they could have just moved the boy and then they'd be on different tracks. I would guess that her grade is pretty evenly balanced, so moving her doesn't hurt them.

 

[minnierocks]

I have never heard of anything like this?! It hurts my head just to think of trying to keep track of it...let alone be the one who has to live through it.
I have heard of year-round school, and I understand the pros and cons...We have a traditional calendar here and there are times during the year that I think an extended break would be nice, but my question is this...
How do the students participate in sports? My son plays football and he wrestles, and they run consistently and overlap each other...I don't see how this type of scheduling could work...

 

[momsully]

We also live in Douglas County and our boys are on B track but switching to a modified schedule for 2008/09. The goal of the county is to get all elementary schools off track.

I would push the school to find out why your son was moved. If necessary take it to the next level, but find out why. In our school C track is where most special needs kids are assigned. Any new kid with special needs is assigned this track. The others are based on class size.

While I love the track system because of the schedule there are many negatives. One of the biggest is that the schools can not do as much ability grouping and differentiated learning as each track is at a different point in the curriculum. In addition, the kids do not get mixed up each year and in a class with a bad dynamic between kids, that can fester and interfere with learning.

There is a superintendents meeting May 5th at Highlands Ranch HS. One of the topics is school schedule and the track system.

Good luck and I hope they understand your issue and can put your kids back on B track.

 

[dzorn]

I like the letter, but I would also include sending it to the director of special education. I would also contact the special education department and verbally speak to the director after to assure he has gotten the letter and go over your concerns. Depending on your childs IEP (assuming he has one) who has transition issues changing to a schedule with more transitions, I would also mention to the the special education director that he was moved out of order.

Denise in MI

 

[Matt'nMeg'sMom]

They had to move her so all your kids would be together. Could be a LOT worse- they could have just moved the boy and then they'd be on different tracks. I would guess that her grade is pretty evenly balanced, so moving her doesn't hurt them.

Actually, her grade is really unbalanced. 18 boys, 4 girls. So by THEIR reasoning, they would have to leave my two kids together on our original track in order to keep HER class more gender favorable. --- They need girls.

 

[Matt'nMeg'sMom]

We also live in Douglas County and our boys are on B track but switching to a modified schedule for 2008/09. The goal of the county is to get all elementary schools off track.

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There is a superintendents meeting May 5th at Highlands Ranch HS. One of the topics is school schedule and the track system.

We had a superintendent's meeting last fall. Our representative explained the 17 year curve and how track works. Basically - new schools are traditional for 1-2 years, they go to track, and remain on track for up to 17 years (barring a major change in the community, like an earthquake swallowing up half the population.) Track is dependent on enrollment. They have a chart. It our model school goes over 600 kids - track. If it drops under 600 kids for THREE YEARS IN A ROW, then we can go on traditional. The baseline number is determined by your school building's capacity.

 

[Tink-aholic]

I have a question for the OP: do you mind telling us what you pay in property tax? If the population is booming, why aren't they building more schools? What is wrong with portables until they are built?

Our town is also booming. We have three elementary schools and one school just for kindergarten. My son's former elementary school has a section of eight portables that are connected to each other (and the main hallway of the school so kids don't have to bundle up in the winter just to go to the bathroom). They are just in the process now of tearing them down in favor of more permanent classrooms, which the town decided to do rather than repair or replace the portables. They are currently 19 years old.

 

[CrazedDisFan]

Our school district begins the Wednesday after Labor Day and we are out May 30th. We get 2 weeks at Christmas, Good Friday+ the week after Easter, 1 week in February and at least 1 day off per month for staff in-service.

In order to meet the state's required hours for contact each year, we lengthened our school day by 10 minutes daily and shortened our lunch to 30 minutes. These changes allow us a 'traditional' summer and many breaks throughout the year, while still meeting state requirements. Despite our frequent breaks, we have great standardized testing scores.

We also have 5 act of God days built into our calendar. Should we have a mild winter, we can deduct 3 of those days off our calendar and dismiss prior to May 30.

It is a luxurious schedule and we adore it. The track schedule sounds nightmarish, and I am so grateful that was a fleeting thought for our superintendent.

 

[lucigo]

Just curious if your high schools are run on this same type of schedule? Sure would make it hard to do dual enrollment. Does everyone end up graduating in May?

My kids go to a traditionally scheduled school, but its run like a college, with 2 semesters of 4 classes each. This works really well for kids who want to double up on math or english to advance further, and also for kids who want to do dual enrollment with the local junior college. Surprisingly, the other high schools in the area seem resist the idea and stick with the traditional 7 courses for the entire year.