With roughly six weeks before the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District’s first intersession is set to begin, district leaders are expecting about 30 percent of its students to participate.
In July, SOCSD entered its first year with a modified calendar, commonly referred to as “year-round school.” With the new schedule, students begin classes in late July and end in early June. There will also be intersessions before fall break and after spring break.
Intersessions are additional days of school outside of regular instruction to remediate students who are falling behind in their classes (accelerated learning) or want enhanced learning opportunities (enrichment). The first intersession will span eight school days, Oct. 3-12. The second is scheduled for March 20-24.
They are not mandatory for students, though some will be recommended before the first nine weeks of school ends. Intersession coordinator Lexi Taylor said teachers are working with parents to assess the individual academic needs of students to determine whether accelerated learning is needed.
“Intersession for acceleration is based on individual academic need targeting 20 percent of our students,” Taylor wrote in an email to The Dispatch. “The district expects to reach another 10 percent of students through multiple enrichment offerings.”
Teachers in the district are communicating with parents to discuss their students’ learning needs in order to encourage intersession participation. Taylor said the purpose of accelerated instruction during intersession is to offer additional support for students in small groups to maximize learning.
To determine which students will require accelerated learning, teachers and interventionists are working together to review data regarding students who would benefit from targeted instruction. The purpose is to allow students to start the second nine weeks with a better understanding of what they learned in the first nine weeks before new material is introduced, Taylor said.
Accelerated learning will be offered between 8 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. depending on the grade level. Enrichment offerings for grades 8-12 will vary, but they are scheduled for 12:30-3 p.m. each intersession day for kindergarten through seventh grade.
Enrichment learning will vary with many opportunities available such as career and technical education exposure camps, art, aviation, sports, geology, animals and culinary education. Students can choose what enrichment courses they take based on their interests.
However, accelerated learning will be based on what a student has been assessed as needing additional support in.
“Accelerated learning sessions will be determined based on each student’s academic need,” Taylor said. “As an example, for grades 8-12, an acceleration path might include an option for a student who passed a state required course for graduation, but he or she has not yet passed the state required test. Acceleration will also include credit recovery options, and it will include additional support and instruction for students who may need to get back on track in a class following the first nine weeks of learning. In grades K-7, acceleration will be offered to students based on individual academic need in reading/language arts and math.”
Getting there
Students who are not enrolled in the intersessions will not be allowed to attend, Taylor said. Certain students will be invited for accelerated learning, and parents will have an opportunity to sign their child up for enrichment classes.
Buses will be offered to students participating in accelerated learning, but parents will need to provide transportation for students only attending enrichment classes.
“Students may attend both,” Taylor said. “Students who are not participating in acceleration will not be at school. Parents will be asked to provide transportation for their child for enrichment offerings.”
Students participating in intersession will receive breakfast and lunch, the same as if they were in regular session at school. The meal program for intersession is funded through the district’s regular school meal program.
Teachers
At least 70 teachers have signed up to work extra days during intersessions, SOCSD Public Information Officer Nicole Thomas told The Dispatch on Tuesday, 10 more than the district’s target of 60. Since those intersessions days exceed the 187 workday contracts for most teachers, they will be paid $35 per hour during the extra days.
To prepare for the first intersession, Taylor said she began last spring recruiting teachers for intersession positions.
“The district shared a Google form with teachers in the spring to gauge interest and then followed up with them when school resumed for the 2022-23 academic year,” Taylor said. “We’ve also had additional teachers express an interest since our initial survey.”
Taylor said teachers are not only looking forward to the opportunity to earn a little extra money, but they also want to help students in a new, different way.
“Most teachers are definitely excited about the opportunity to earn additional income,” Taylor said. “… Also, teachers genuinely want to help their students succeed, and the opportunity to work with smaller groups of students, based on their individual academic need, allows teachers additional time to advance and enhance their students’ learning beyond the traditional classroom setting.”
Teachers who do choose to teach in the fall intersession are not required to work the spring intersession, and they are offered flexibility in how much time they would like to teach during the intersession. Taylor said those choosing to work can decide to share responsibilities with another teacher so they can take advantage of an extended fall break.
With a little more than a month left, Taylor said there are plenty of teachers to fill classrooms with small class sizes as the district planned.
“Staffing is more than adequate to accommodate small class sizes designed to offer targeted instruction to accelerate learning for our students whether they need to get back on track or they want to explore new opportunities to experience excellence,” Taylor said.
Many teachers who are interested in offering enrichment learning have sent their own lesson plan proposals to the district for approval, and SOCSD is working with Mississippi State University to provide other enrichment learning opportunities.
Some teachers are excited to share what they know with students outside of the ones who take their classes during the school year.
“Teachers are looking forward to sharing their expertise and knowledge with students who may not be able to take their class during the regular school year,” Taylor said. “For example, Mr. (Andrew) Lark, who is an award-winning art teacher at Starkville High School, is offering an artistic visual art enrichment learning experience about the basic elements of photography, 3D-form, tempura paint and charcoal drawing.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 44 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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