Out with the old and in with the new, yet again for Westminster. This time, though, the changes are on a much smaller scale compared to moving to a new campus.
Last year, students would get cold in class and would slip on their nice blue baseball or swimming jackets and then find themselves with a pink slip in their hand.
The administration has added team hoodies and sweatshirts and WCA items purchased in the bookstore to the dress code. Though that has been added, the girl’s khaki and navy skorts have been taken away because the lengths were not appropriate. All of the standardized dress skirts now cannot be any shorter than three inches above the knee.
“I love being able to wear team jackets and sweatshirts from the bookstore. I think it is better this year because more people are buying WCA apparel from the bookstore and it is a great way to represent your team,” said Megan Johnson, sophomore.
In addition to dress code changes, the food policy has become less strict for this year. Teachers in the past heard students complaining about how hungry they were in all of their classes before lunch and would have to stop the students from eating.
Though the administration has good intentions trying to keep the new school clean and well kept, they came to a compromise with the students. Students are allowed to drink in the library as long as it has a lid and can eat in the commons as long as those areas stay picked up.
Many of the changes apply to a student’s school day, but they will also be affected by a change in their sports after school. Each sport’s team is required and has time set aside in the weight room to do strength and agility workouts. The intent is to keep athletes in good shape and on the road to reach the goals they been working towards in the off-season.
“I think that it definitely will be nice for the teams to work out in the weight room because it will keep each athlete in good shape, especially if you are not in a fitness class during school. It will allow you to work on certain muscle groups that you use for the particular sport you play. Ultimately, it should make you better and stronger as a well- rounded athlete,” said Ben Huffman, junior.
Also, there is a new tardy and excused absences policy for the students this year. The administration feels that students should be responsible enough to make it to class on time. Students are allowed to have two tardies per quarter before there are consequences. On the third tardy, the teacher will notify the student’s parents. On the fourth and all subsequent tardies, students will automatically get a conduct detention.
When it comes to excused absences, students can have five excused absences per class per quarter before there will be consequence of a conduct detention. Any unexcused absences will result in a percentage point being taken off the student’s grade.
Not only are the high school students experiencing some tweaks to the system, but so are the middle school students.
Middle school students are required to take a semester long STEM course. After a semester of STEM, students take a required semester long physical education class.
Teachers are also working toward getting better use out of the time set aside for Academic Advisory. A weekly academic check- up for students every Wednesday before seventh hour, where the student’s academic progress is tracked is intended to help teachers help students get the most from the advisory time. Plans are made accordingly so that students can perform their best and be successful.
In the middle school the notion of setting time aside during the school day for teachers to help students has also gotten traction.Thus, Academic Connect time, which is four days a week and provides a flexible model for academic and instructional support has been built into the Middle School schedule.
“During these times many things will be occurring under the direction and supervision of our grade- level teaching teams: re-teaching stations, conferencing, test preparation centers, recovery work, independent study sessions, project completion, on-line tutorials in mathematics or typing skills, etc.,” said Steve Hall, middle school principal.
In addition to the new programs, lunchtime has been moved closer to the noon hour and every core teacher in the middle school was given an iPad 2.
Not only are the teachers getting more technologically advanced, but two iPad carts have been purchased for student use in the middle school. Teachers are asked to assess the iPad’s impact and potential benefit to the Middle School.
Though there are many changes during the school day, there has been a drastic change to the athletic program in the middle school. Athletic practices begin at 2:25 p.m. for all of the students participating in a sport. If students are not playing a sport then they will go to Academic Connect. Students do not receive a grade for the sports that they are involved in, which is different from past years.
7th graders can still play two sports per season. The sports will be split so that they alternate days. 8th grade teams will meet four days a week for sports.
