By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — A revised schedule is coming to Lynnfield Middle School next year, Principal Stephen Ralston said during the School Committee’s April 29 meeting.
Ralston said the middle school has had “some issues” with its schedule that needed to be addressed.
“We have had a lack of equity issue around teachers having prep time,” said Ralston. “The grade 5 and 6 core subject teachers have less prep time than seventh, eighth and exploratory teachers. We are trying to address that to make sure everyone has the same number of planning periods across the board.”
Ralston said the middle school’s hours will not be changing as a result of the schedule change.
“We are trying to make sure class sizes are reasonable and we are offering enough sections during each block of the day,” said Ralston. “We really felt strongly about keeping the trimesters that were started several years ago.”
Ralston said the middle school will still be using a three-day cycle under the revised schedule that entails holding six 54-minute periods over the course of the school day.
“We switched from seven 45-minute periods to six 54-minute periods several years ago because it was not enough time to cover the curriculum,” said Ralston.
Ralston said a schedule change for grades 5 and 6 entails offering eight exploratory classes instead of nine.
“Eight classes does not fit neatly into a three trimesters, three days of the cycle matrix,” said Ralston. “What we decided to do in grades 5 and 6 is that exploratory classes won’t be trimester-based. They will be quarter-based classes. For the first 45 days of the year, we will have ‘Blue Days’ and ‘Gold Days.’ A student might have physical education on ‘Blue Days’ and art on ‘Gold Days.’ As we switch into quarter 2, they will have their second section of physical education and music instead of art. Students in grades 5 and 6 will still be taking exploratory classes.”
Ralston said the biggest schedule change is in eighth grade, as French and Spanish will be incorporated as a “fifth core subject” that will be offered for the full academic year.
“Spanish and French will meet daily,” said Ralston.
Due to the Spanish and French changes for eighth grade, Ralston said both languages will no longer be offered in grade 6.
“Currently, we have world language one day out of a three-day cycle in sixth grade, one day in seventh grade and two days in eighth grade,” said Ralston. “In the end, the total number of Spanish and French classes a student takes won’t change, but there will be a bigger concentration in grade 8 moving into high school. The high school has been knocking on our doors about that for years. We are excited about it.”
In the wake of the schedule change “leaving a gap in grade 6,” Ralston said the middle school will be offering a Cultural Studies class for sixth-graders.
“That will be taught by our French teacher,” said Ralston. “That position has taught Cultural Studies for our non language takers for the last several years. This is going to be a required class for all sixth grade students that will go through different cultures and give a taste of French and Spanish to get students ready to make their decision before going into grade 7.”
Ralston also said the General Music class will be switched from eighth grade to sixth grade.
School Committee member Jamie Hayman said he “doesn’t love” moving General Music from eighth grade to sixth grade.
“I feel like our music program is building a little bit of momentum with the love of music in eighth grade and going into high school,” said Hayman.
Ralston said the middle school’s band and chorus programs have “started to rebound” since the numbers for both programs declined during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our band and chorus numbers in seventh and eighth grade is the highest they have been in a long time,” said Ralston. “I don’t see a big translation from the General Music class, which is more or less about the history of rock and roll. I don’t think that is a springboard for students to pick up an instrument in high school and play.”
School Committee Chair Kate DePrizio expressed her support for moving the General Music class to sixth grade.
“I like having it closer to the elementary schools,” said DePrizio.
Ralston said the middle school’s honor roll will no longer include sixth-graders due to the “exploratory classes not lining up with our trimester end dates.”
“We will still have the honor roll in grades 7 and 8,” said Ralston.
Ralston said the only change for grade 7 is switching exploratory classes from the fourth period to the second period.
“Other than that, there are no changes to grade 7,” said Ralston.
Ralston also said eighth-graders “will not have much Team time at all.”
“Right now, most eighth-graders have Team time twice in a three-day cycle,” said Ralston. “Next year, it will mostly be one for most eighth-graders.”
In response to a question from School Committee member Jenny Sheehan, Ralston said Team time is similar to a “supportive study hall” that is overseen by teachers on a particular team.
“Team time is an opportunity for students to get help from their team teachers,” said Ralston. “If a student has Team time with their English teacher, they can go see their math teacher if they need help.”
Ralston said the middle school’s STAGE (support, tutorial, assembly, guidance and enrichment) time will be changed to What I Need (WIN) time.
“We are going to have our interventionists at that time and students can go to different groups such as a speech service or working with the school psychologist,” said Ralston. “WIN time will also allow students to catch up with their core teachers if they need to make up a quiz in math or need help with a science lab report. That is a good time during the school day for students to catch up with their subject teachers.”
Hayman asked if students will be able to work on homework assignments during WIN time.
“That is what we are looking at, particularly in grade 8,” said Ralston.
Ralston said an internal committee comprised of veteran teachers was formed to review making changes to the middle school’s schedule. He said Lynnfield Teachers Association President Alex Cellucci, who is an eighth grade science teacher, served on the committee.
“Each grade level was represented,” said Ralston. “They would go back to their grade levels, get feedback and come back to the group. We started this in October and finalized an agreement with the entire faculty in early April. It was a lot of work.”
