The Canyons Board of Education on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012 unanimously approved a new framework for scholastic instruction and intervention in Canyons District middle schools.
The schedule, which has been endorsed by the Canyons Education Association, will be used at Indian Hills and Midvale middle schools in the coming school year. Lessons learned at those schools during the pilot phase will assist in the refinement of the schedule before it is implemented districtwide in fall 2013.
The new schedule carves out more time for core courses for sixth- through eighth-grades while also providing students flexibility to participate in a wide range of elective classes. This flexibility is made possible through an A- and B-day alternating schedule.
Under the new framework, the students’ days are made up of five 72-minute class periods with 40-minute “intervention and extension” sections within some of those classes. The aim with these sections is to give extra support to students who struggled to master the concepts from the previous day or, if the students have demonstrated proficiency, to provide additional, in-depth instruction.
Another major part of the new schedule is that, although some classes are taught every other day, students are required to attend English Language Arts and mathematics courses every day.
However, parents may note that the schedule is flexible enough to allow all middle school students the opportunity to take two full-year elective courses. The reporting period for grading will be in 12-week intervals, which equates to roughly 60 days per reporting period.
