The 2019-2020 school year brings a lot of changes to the WRHS schedule. The three big changes are: the addition of Problem Based Learning, the addition of Seminar, and a weekly rotating schedule for 2nd-4th periods,.
Project Based Learning
|
PBL and Renewal
|
As you can see in the infographic to the left, the RSS Renewal Directional System has three equal parts. Academic Skills, which have always been addressed in our content level classes; Unique Life Goals, which will be addressed by seminar; and Interpersonal Skills, the skills we are focusing on in PBL. Skills such as creativity, leadership, teamwork, civility, work ethic, communication, and problem solving skills are essential to becoming a productive citizen, but they are not skills that are easy to measure (or grade). More so, they are skills that need to be fostered and encouraged in an educational environments where PROGRESS is the goal. Providing a learning opportunity where these interpersonal skills are fostered is the goal of PBL.
|
PBL helps us create productive, well-rounded citizens!
Seminar (40 minutes/8 weeks a semester)
The design team also met with various student focus groups and asked students what they felt was missing in their high school experience. The Seminar Block was born from those groups as students expressed desires to explore life skills, hobbies and other non-academic interests during their school day. It is our hope that this time will create more marketable, well-rounded graduates. Seminars will run on 4 week increments and will be offered on sports, budgeting, pivotal points in history, young adult literature, health and wellness and other topics of interest.
Rotating Schedule (weekly)
The rotating schedule will be mutually beneficial for teachers and students alike. Because of the amount of off campus classes early in the school day, 1st block will remain stationary. 2nd-4th block will rotate weekly. Every student has an optimal learning time, but this peak time for learning varies for different students. This will give students an opportunity to experience the same course at various times of the day, and it will give teachers the opportunity to teach the same course at various times of the day. This will allow teachers to reach more students during their optimal learning time.