Next Year

The wheels are definitely in motion for ACE next year. I met with the administrative team Monday with a written list of the old policies that I wanted reinstated, and they agreed to all of the important ones: (Key acronyms—ACE—Alternative Cooperative Education; ESS—Exceptional Student Services, formerly known as Special Ed; CHS—Columbine High School; OJE—On-the-Job Education, or credit awarded for working outside of school)
• There are only three possible grades: A, C, or F.
• All assignments must be completed up to standards in order to earn a passing grade in the class. Absolutely no zeroes will be allowed. The teachers will be available during class, after school, and on Thursday mornings to assist students in meeting this requirement.
• Grades for each progress report will be based on work due 10 days before the reporting period (6 week grades based on assignments due within the first 4 weeks, 12 week grades upon those due in the first 10 weeks). All of these assignments must be in by 2:30 on the day that teachers are required to enter grades in order to have a passing grade on the report card.
• Assignments that have not been turned in by the above deadlines cannot be made up for credit. This means the student will fail ACE for the semester and risk his/her status as a student at Columbine, depending upon his/her grades in other classes. In order to prevent this, students with missing assignments will call a parent in front of an ACE teacher 10 days before the cut-off and then again five days before the cut off. If the student is part of ESS, the primary provider will be notified when the parents are.
• There is no homework in ACE; therefore no work can be done at home. Work not completed during class must be completed during off-hours in the lab or after school with ACE teacher supervision. Adequate class time is always provided.
• Students who fail ACE but choose to stay at CHS will go back to a traditional class at semester.
• There are no tardies in ACE. A student who walks in after the appointed start time is counted absent for the first period of the block. He/she is not counted absent for the second. Any student who “disappears” during class will be counted absent for both periods.
• There are no “excused” or “unexcused” absences in ACE. An absence is an absence.
• Students have 2 “sick days” (4 periods) per semester. These absences do not have to be made up. All others must be made up during free periods or after school.
• Each absence after the 6th in a semester will require a parent/student/teacher conference. Each one after the tenth will require administrator involvement and may result in failure of the class and/or removal from the program.
• The grade received in ACE will be the grade for OJE, if applicable.
I know this looks brutal, at first, but these are kids who don’t succeed, usually because of “magical thinking.” They have this idea that they can hold steady at a 17% all semester and somehow pull it out of the hole in the last 3 weeks. No number of failures at this strategy will get them to change their minds. The day of reckoning must come for them when they are still able to save themselves—thus the fact that a student is ultimately accountable as early as the first six weeks. They are also used to doing very minimal work. Often, in the classes they do pass, they have low D’s. Years and years of functioning at 60% have left them way behind in skills. Our job is to catch them up so they can rejoin the regular curriculum in their senior year and earn C’s, at the least.

I wouldn’t mind having a dime for every teacher I’ve met who says this can’t be done. I wish I had another dime for every time the ACE program has done it. Sometimes we even get our kids onto the honor roll. That means that they not only perform in ACE; they start performing in their other, regular classes, as well. We lose a few every year; that’s inescapable, but when it works, it works. A student made a comment on his end-of-year self-evaluation that I will never forget. He said, “When I came to class on the first day and found out that we had to do every single assignment perfectly, I didn’t think I could possibly pass. What I learned about myself this year is that I am capable of perfection.”

I have a new partner, a young teacher who is moving here from California. I’ve teamed with many teachers over my career, mostly with excellent results. I’ve had a couple of experiences where I felt that I might as well have taught the class on my own, but I’ve never met anyone I just couldn’t work with.

In addition to the two-hour block that is ACE, I’m teaching 3 ninth grade classes next year. I haven’t taught freshmen in eleven years. As much as I will miss the Puritans, The Scarlet Letter, Gatsby, Catcher, all of those, I’m looking forward to reacquainting myself with To Kill a Mockingbird, Lord of the Flies, and yes, even Romeo and Juliet. I just have to brace myself for Olivia Hussey throwing herself on Friar Lawrence’s floor and shrieking, “Ooooh shut the door! And when thou hast done so come weeeeep with me!!!!!” I will also have to find some way to expunge that obnoxious theme song from my poor head each evening. No way are we watching the MTV version with DiCaprio. All the weird things they do with the camera in that keep me from fully immersing myself in the movie. (I’m not sure why that matters. I’ll probably be at my desk grading papers while the kids watch.)

Sad, isn’t it? It isn’t even summer, and I’m already working on next year. It’s me. I’m compulsive that way.

tags: education