Wenatchee High School Studying New Schedule to Accommodate Increased Graduation Requirements

Eric Anderson

Wenatchee High School is looking at new schedule options, principal Eric Anderson told school board members at the board meeting February 23.

“We have two years to plan for core 24,” Anderson said, referring to the new state graduation requirements that will mandate all students earn 24 credits to graduate, increased from the current requirement of 20. The high school has been granted a two-year waiver by the state to give them time to get a system in place. The first class to be affected by Core 24 is the class of 2021, currently 7^th graders.

Anderson said a 12-member committee has been studying the issue since October. They’ve set priorities and are looking at a number of options to offer opportunities for students to earn even more than 24 credits. The committee is considering a 4x4 schedule, where students are able to take 4 courses each semester and 8 courses over a full year, giving them the opportunity to earn 32 credits total.

Anderson said the committee is looking carefully at other schools that are running the schedule successfully, and the committee is communicating with staff and getting feedback. A parent night is in the works, where parents and the community will be invited to hear more and offer feedback.

Anderson shared these lists of pros and challenges for the 4x4 schedule:

Pros:

Fewer number of class transitions within a day

Increased teacher prep time (85-90 minutes per day)

Reduces student focus to 4 classes per day

85-90 minutes of consistent classroom content

Reduces teacher student daily load to 90 students per day

Increased opportunity to build relationships with the smaller daily load

Increased elective offerings

Less time devoted to administrative tasks, like attendance

Challenges:

Less total instructional time in each class

Increased difficulty in placing transfer students

Harder to make up absences

Scheduling of AP courses based on AP exam dates

Sequencing of foreign language courses

Special Education course alignment

Concurrent music course offerings

Timing of state testing requirements

Schedule Committee Members

Hilary Nelson, international languages

Tom Baumeister, math

Jeff Leavitt, business education

Amy Van Wey, special education

Brian Higgins, English

Mark Haugen, science

Matt Kline, career and technical education

Will White, counseling

Steve Roche, social studies

Michelle Mahoney Holland, classified

Steve Priest, visual arts, family consumer science

Dawn McCormick, music

Keri Hertzog, PE/health