By By Kelly Quackenbush/The Meridian Star
March 23, 2001
Clarkdale Attendance Center will return to traditional seven-period days next year, rejecting four-period block scheduling.
The announcement came Thursday during a meeting of the Lauderdale County School Board.
Principal Jan Miller said 100 percent of the school's teachers voted to change the system. Teachers and administrators have discussed the issue with students, who say they are ready for the change.
The four-by-four block system allowed students to take four classes per semester and eight total credits for the year. The traditional seven-period day will decrease the number of credits by one.
Miller supports this system for a number of reasons. She said the shorter periods will help younger students concentrate on their subjects without straining their shorter attention spans, and believes test scores will rise with the shorter periods.
School Superintendent David Little said the system is approved if the parents and the community will support it.
School teachers spoke in support of the decision at the school board meeting and thanked the board for approving the change.
Kelly Quackenbush is a staff writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail her at kquackenbush@themeridianstar.com.
In other matters:
At the next meeting, the board will vote on whether ninth-, 10th- and 11th-graders should be required to take math, social studies, English and science
courses each year in order to receive a diploma.
The board will also vote on whether to pass students to the ninth grade if they fail an English or math course in the seventh or eighth grade.
The board accepted teacher resignations and approved recommendations to replace lost teachers.