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Extended Lunch Update and Follow-up

Within the next few days the Leadership Team will be sending you a survey to get your opinion on Extended Lunch. Before you answer the survey, please review the latest updates and answers to some of your questions.

At the 6/5/08 Leadership meeting the Leadership Team, after extended discussion, voted unanimously to recommend piloting the extended lunch program for one year because

· ESHS wants to do whatever it takes to support the success of every student, and

· ESHS acknowledges that our identified subgroup is at risk for maintaining the state’s goals for satisfactory progress, and

· ESHS wants to increase the number of students who complete honors and AP classes, and

· ESHS wants to increase the number of students who complete A – G requirements, and

· The Extended Lunch program would provide a framework by which we could provide support and require student participation.

We addressed several questions that we want to share with our entire staff:

1. Would math teachers be required to tutor? No, assignments are determined by semester on a volunteer basis. It was communicated that at La Serna the math department had voluntarily decided to tutor.

2. How many students in a tutorial? We would hope to cap it at 18, but only assign 10 students initially to allow for walk-ins.

3. Is there a required format for tutorials? No. Students at La Serna informed us that tutorials reflected the style of individual teachers. Some teachers had a very structured format to re-visit concepts covered in that class that week. Other tutorials were informal, and come utilized student tutors as well (much like an AVID class).

4. If we had extended lunch right now, how many students would be required to be in class during that time? All freshmen would be in Freshmen Advisory (plus Link Crew)—approx. 350); 324 students receiving Ds and Fs; 378 students with a GPA of 2.5 or lower.

5. How will we prevent students from leaving campus during Extended Lunch?

The first line of defense will be adding additional supervision. Teachers have the option of signing up for one of four options: Freshman Advisory, Tutorials, Study Hall (Guided Study), and Supervision. Second, if students show up as absent who should be in Extended Lunch, we’ll send an escort to pick them up 5^th period. Third, we hope to develop a lunchtime sports program that may entice some students to stay.

6. When did we start talking about Extended Lunch? Conversation began as a Leadership agenda item in 2005-06. It was one of the concepts suggested in Whatever It Takes, the book about Professional Learning Communities that Bruce Auld gave us. In 2006-07 it was examined in general faculty meetings and in Focus Groups. The faculty at that time identified three programs they wanted to study with the intention of implementation (remember voting with dots on the programs suggested by Focus Groups?):

extended freshman orientation :(we used the term “Boot Camp” before we were aware of Link Crew)—implemented summer 2007 and continuing);

voluntary tutoring by paid credentialed teachers: (we decided this winter not to pursue, after much discussion, committee meetings, and notification of faculty of possible positions)

extended lunch: re-visited at first site-based in-service 9/17/07. 11/05--Power Point update; 1/17--Faculty viewed video made by La Serna during prep period; 4/14-- ESHS team visited La Serna ; 4/21—ESHS team presented movie re-capping visit, Focus Group discussions, and panel; 6/3 Faculty meeting--video addressing questions generated by Focus Groups; 6/5—Leadership Team voted to recommend ESHS pilot the extended lunch intervention program; 6/7—District communicated support of the idea in principle and are reviewing the minutes to ensure state compliance. Next: gather the opinions of the entire staff before making the decision to continue.