PAISD reveals changes at schools for new year
WHAT'S NEW?
BY DAN PARKER SOUTH JETTY REPORTER

A new effort at H.G. Olsen Elementary School will provide additional instruction in handwriting, spelling and other disciplines for students during the 2007-2008 school year.

Third and fourth-grade students will take the enrichment classes every Monday, according to Sylvia Buttler, principal of the school.

Some students struggle with handwriting in the third grade, when assignments involving writing kick into especially high gear, said Gayla Wiggins, who will be teaching the enrichment classes.

"Part of the issue is, teachers have so much to teach with so little time," said Wiggins, curriculum and special programs coordinator with the Port Aransas Independent School District. "What I'll be doing is reinforcing and supporting what's going on in class."

Besides helping with handwriting and spelling, Wiggins will teach study skills, team building, class building and possibly other subjects, she said.

Team and class building will teach students how to work, learn and cooperate as a group, Wiggins said.

A new kind of instruction will be taking place at Brundrett Middle School also this fall. BMS will start a program called STARS - Students Taking Academic Responsibility, said Bob Byrd, principal.

STARS will be a ninth-period class required for some students having trouble in certain courses, Byrd said. Meeting Mondays through Thursdays, students will get extra instruction in the areas where they are having problems, Byrd said.

Byrd said he has not yet decided on the criteria for what will move students into STARS classes.

Last year, Port Aransas High School had a STARS program that was similar to the one to be implemented at the middle school.

Speaking of PAHS - it's not something new, but something that's staying the same that will have sophomores excited during the 2007- 08 school year. Principal Travis Longanecker said he has no plans to require sophomores to stay on campus during lunch each day.

Last year, Longanecker enacted a new policy that restricted freshmen to campus during lunch period. Longanecker said going off campus was a bad idea for many freshmen because they don't have driver's licenses, and their overall lack of maturity could too often land them in trouble while running around town during lunch.

Longanecker said he also wants freshmen introduced to their new high school lives more gradually, and that means holding back on the privilege of going off-campus for lunch.

The policy of keeping freshmen on campus will remain in effect this year, Longanecker said.

Longanecker said last year that he was considering changing policy so that sophomores also would be kept on campus during lunch. However, after taking a look at how things went with sophomores leaving for lunch throughout the 2006-07 year, Longanecker said he didn't see enough reason to keep sophomores on campus this year.