Longer classes, lunch periods at LHS this year

There's even an extra minute for changing classes

By PATRICIA A. RUSSELL, Valley Breeze Staff Writer

LINCOLN - This fall, lunches at Lincoln High School are two minutes longer and classes are longer by 18 minutes, although the school day starts and ends at the same time.

The new schedule looks like this: There are five, 62-minute periods each day that rotate their start time every seven days. Previously, there were seven classes each day that ran for 44 minutes.

The need for longer classroom periods was one of the recommendations of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, which visited the school last year. "We weren't surprised," said Principal Kevin McNamara. "We were already working on it."

School officials say that research shows that longer time in the classroom is a good educational practice so that more teaching and learning can take place. Longer periods provide an opportunity for more hands-on work, classroom discussion, lab and group work and experiential learning.

"We want kids to use inquiry and critical-thinking skills, and the increase in time helps to do that," said McNamara. "That's not going to happen in 44 minutes."

The new schedules are posted in all classrooms as a reminder for staff and students.

Now, schools days will be referred to by number, such as "Day 1" or "Day 2" or "Day 3."

"A Monday through Friday schedule doesn't really mean much anymore," said the principal. "It will take a little getting used to, but we are willing to live with that because it gives us what we want."

Different schedules, including 90-minute ones, were looked at by a faculty committee that included one member from every department. The principal also sat on the committee. The 62-minute schedule was unanimously voted on by staff last January and implemented this year.

"We thought this one was a good fit for our kids and our teachers," said McNamara.

It was also one where the school district would not incur any added expenses and the school district could maintain its already "valuable" programs, McNamara said.

"It will allow teachers to do a lot more hands-on activities," said McNamara, adding that it will be a boost for a class such as science that has a lab component.

The principal was quick to point out that other subject areas benefit, too, including a history class where a debate takes place, or a Socratic seminar in English.

School officials said longer class periods had been on the radar for sometime, but really began in earnest in 2007. Before the new middle school was built, sharing the high school complex with the middle school, "precluded us from really being able to do what we wanted," the principal said.

With the new 62-minute class schedule, lunch periods are not only longer, but start earlier. They end earlier, too. The new start time is 11:14 a.m. and the new end time is at 12:40 p.m.

"Kids have a full, 24-minute lunch period. Before, it was 22 minutes," said McNamara.

Previously, the three-lunch period schedule started at 11:49 a.m. and ended at 1 p.m. Now, the lunch period schedule runs 11:14 to 11:38 a.m., 11:45 a.m. to 12:09 p.m., and 12:16 to 12:40 p.m.

Another change this year: There are now five minutes to get from one class to another. Previously, there were four minutes.

"We feel that's more realistic given the size of the building," said McNamara.

The principal recalled that he was the first teacher at the high school to teach a reading ramp-up course designed to help kids who struggled with reading. It was a 90-minute class.

He also taught a humanities class where he teamed up with a social studies teacher. He would teach the kids for one 90-minute period and the other teacher would teach the same kids for a 90-minute period.

"I taught in longer periods, even though the schedule didn't look that way," McNamara said.

Other teachers had the same experience.

"We've had people who have had this opportunity in the past and they found it to be an effective way to teach," he said.

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