Due to the new eight-day schedule at Walpole High School (WHS), the faculty has decided to utilize a mandatory study period for all students to provide an additional option for extra help. Usually, these opportunities would be held during Professional Learning Community (PLC); however, due to the schedule change, PLC was omitted from the schedule. Interventions, where students can meet with teachers or counselors during their study block, allow additional opportunities for students to receive extra help.
“The goal for interventions is equity and access for students so that all students have the ability to meet with a teacher during the school day,” Director of School Counseling Jennifer Dolan said.
Students who cannot stay after school or prefer smaller group situations for extra help can benefit from interventions.
“Interventions will be helpful because students can get more one-on-one time with the teacher,” junior Ebenezer Paul said.
Students can sign up for interventions now using the online service, FlexiSCHED. Music teacher Ken Gable explained how to sign up for the service and interventions on the Rebel Report morning news on Sept. 19 during an extended homeroom period. This video is now available online on the WHS website.
Teachers can request students through FlexiSCHED if they believe students need extra help or need to make up work or a test. If a teacher does this, students can see their assigned location for their study in the email sent each morning after homeroom. Typically students will be in the default location of the cafeteria, but students who have signed up or were requested for an intervention report directly to that teacher instead of to their study. Not all teachers are available during these interventions nor are they available during each student’s study period.
“Not all the classes I want are offered during my study, but I’ll try to maximize interventions,” senior Smera Gora said.
Every other cycle, the school counseling office takes seniors and freshmen out of their study. For seniors, these sessions include talking about college and working on applications, as well as discussing deadlines for college essays and applications. Freshmen had a seminar about the mental health resources in the school such as the Signs of Suicide boxes. These seminars are similar to what would happen during PLC.
“After school, there are so many competing priorities, some of which are students’ choice. There’s a fair portion of students who don’t have the luxury of choice to stay after for extra help, so interventions will provide that extra help,” Dolan said.
