Middle High School Schedule Changes Improve Student Opportunities

 

Beginning with a move to a 7-period day, the Lucerne Valley Middle High School campus will be abuzz with new classes and opportunities when the 2019-20 school year gets underway in August.

 

Changing from a 6- to a 7-period day has numerous benefits including the broadening of class credit opportunities, according to school counselor Rebecca Rubio who presented revisions to the master schedule during the June 13th school board meeting.

 

An additional period every day will allow for more classes, which will increase student opportunities to participate in AVID without taking away elective opportunities, increase student opportunities to complete and exceed the A-G requirements, increase CTE pathway completion as students will have the flexibility in their schedule to completed the required classes in the order they are supposed to be completed. Students completing certain CTE courses and pathways will earn college credit, she said.

 

Other byproducts of the change will be the benefit to the career and college portion of the school district’s CA dashboard and the ability for students to take 35 credits per semester, compared to 30, and earn a total of 70 credits per school year rather than 60.

 

“The students and the staff are very excited about this change,” Ms. Rubio said.

 

The California Cadet Corp Program will be offered during 6th period at the high school and 7th period at the middle school. The program will provide an additional physical education credit opportunity, develop leadership skills, enhance academic achievement, provide basic military knowledge, encourage health, wellness and fitness, and allow students the opportunity for community service with participation in local events.

 

“This is something we’re very excited about,” she said. “Both sections are already full.”

The addition of a medical course for the high school will help students get started early in a health-related career field. The school’s new pathway has been approved for a Strong Workforce Grant. The program will begin with the addition of one period of an “Intro to Medical” class with the addition of a second section in the 2020-21 school year for the capstone course.

 

“We’re going to be more competitive with other districts in the area,” according to Ms. Rubio.

A journalism elective will be added at the middle school that will support reading and writing skills for students. The class will be taught by Ms. Oyadomari with assistance from Mr. Rivas, who is moving over from the elementary school.

 

Starting this fall, Lucerne Valley middle schoolers will get a chance to take an “Intro to Computer Science” class. The course will take a wide lens on computer science by covering topics such as programming, physical computing, HTML/CSS, and data. Students will engage with computer science as a medium for creativity, communication, problem solving, and fun. The course inspires students as they build their own websites, apps, games, and physical computing devices.

 

A 9th grade AP Computer Science Principles course could be offered in the future.

 

LVMHS students will be taught Social Emotional Learning (SEL), which helps students acquire and apply the knowledge and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions. Additionally, through the program, they will learn to set and achieve positive goals, show empathy for others, maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.

 

The school’s SEL program will teach active listening, collaborating effectively, empathizing with others, how to bounce back from setbacks, managing emotions, goal setting, and problem solving.

 

“We’ll be not only teaching the students, but we’ll also be teaching the teachers,” Ms. Rubio said. “We want to make sure that our school knows what Social Emotion Learning is.”

 

The school will offer support for middle school math and English courses during each period and additional AVID and ESL support.

Additional support will be offered for high school athletes, including a study hall option, to help maintain a 2.0 GPA or higher.

 

Nate Lambdin, the middle high school principal who also serves as an assistant superintendent, added that athletic director Brandon Barkley — who also is a math teacher — will head the program.

 

“We thought he was the right person to run that intervention program,” said Mr. Lambdin who added that nearly 50% of high school students are involved in a sport. “We’re going to be meeting the needs of a lot of kids. It could not have been possible without a 7-period day and the support of our faculty and our counselor listening to the needs of our students.”

 

Several High School English Honors classes will be offered in all four grades including grades 9/10 and 11/12 combo courses.

 

A number of college requirement courses, known as A-G Courses, will be added this coming school year. They include AG Leadership, AG Design/Fabrications, AG Mechanics, Animal Productions, Horticulture, AVID 9, AVID 10, AVID 11, Restaurant II and Peer Counseling.

 

The school will also offer several CTE courses that are college articulated through Victor Valley College. This gives students an opportunity to earn college credit through VVC.

 

The classes include AG Biology, Horticulture, Graphic Communications, Auto CAD, 3D Modeling, Auto I, and Restaurant II.

 

“The 2020 school year will be awesome for our kids because they’ll have options,” Mr. Lambdin said.

 

 

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE LVMHS COUNSELING DEPARTMENT, CLICK HERE.