By Stella Bold
Like most years, school began early September with a flood of sleep-deprived kids slowly marching into their new classes. This new year came with one difference, however: the addition of homeroom.
The choice to alter the schedule to fit in a homeroom has been a hot topic among the school, for kids and teachers alike. In order to gain some insight to the reasoning for such a decision, Principal Balestracci gave some insider information. The Falconer also interviewed students to get their take on the change.
Like most years, school began early September with a flood of sleep-deprived kids slowly marching into their new classes. This new year came with one difference, however: the addition of homeroom.
The choice to alter the schedule to fit in a homeroom has been a hot topic among the school, for kids and teachers alike. In order to gain some insight to the reasoning for such a decision, Principal Balestracci gave some insider information. The Falconer also interviewed students to get their take on the change.
The Falconer: How long had the school been considering adding in a homeroom to the schedule?
Mr. Balestracci: So it’s been considered for about three years, and last year we had a scheduling committee made up of staff members and other stakeholders who were able to work through it and review our current schedule, [to] see how we can provide the best learning opportunities for students. They felt that having a home base to check in on a daily basis and kind of preparing themselves to learn for the day was beneficial. So it actually came from the teachers via the scheduling committee that we had last year.
F: Did you have a lot of student input for that?
Mr. B: We did, we had talked to students often, when the principal's advisory council had pushed for it a year and a half ago they had talked a little bit about it, having a place where they can go in, finish their breakfast, and get ready for the day. They felt that coming off the bus and out of cars right into classrooms was difficult at times, so we wanted to put [the students] in the best position to succeed: to be alert, ready to learn. We felt that trying the homeroom out couldn’t hurt us, only help us, and so far the feedback I’ve received from students has been very positive.
F: Was this a unanimous decision? Or did it take some compromise to get this up and running?
Mr. B: Well it took some work amongst the staff and some contractual things. However, because it was unanimous amongst the committee, which was representative of all grade levels and all content areas, it was unanimous by that group which is why we were able to put it without having a lot of hiccups with it.
F: After homeroom being in effect for some time, do you think it was a good choice so far?
Mr. B: Well I think we have a small sample size, right? So we’re just finishing up our first term, I think that as we move forward there’s going to be a little bit more of an advisory piece to it, that’s going to be added in. So during certain cycles we’ll offer certain opportunities to have discussions and academic check-ins, things like that. I think that, you know, doing it for a year or two will give us a real good view of where it’s at. Does it increase our achievement? Does it help our attendance? Does it help tardiness? Those things, but right now it’s been a positive yield thus far.
F: To follow up did you have a lot of teacher input on how they feel about homeroom?
Mr. B: So far it’s been pretty positive, again I think that there’s a desire to have some more advisory pieces to that, which I think we should do, and will do, but again it’s something that’s brand new, it’s going to take some time to work out the different kinks in the system. But I think it’s a good opportunity and I’m excited to see what it brings moving forward.
Mr. Balestracci: So it’s been considered for about three years, and last year we had a scheduling committee made up of staff members and other stakeholders who were able to work through it and review our current schedule, [to] see how we can provide the best learning opportunities for students. They felt that having a home base to check in on a daily basis and kind of preparing themselves to learn for the day was beneficial. So it actually came from the teachers via the scheduling committee that we had last year.
F: Did you have a lot of student input for that?
Mr. B: We did, we had talked to students often, when the principal's advisory council had pushed for it a year and a half ago they had talked a little bit about it, having a place where they can go in, finish their breakfast, and get ready for the day. They felt that coming off the bus and out of cars right into classrooms was difficult at times, so we wanted to put [the students] in the best position to succeed: to be alert, ready to learn. We felt that trying the homeroom out couldn’t hurt us, only help us, and so far the feedback I’ve received from students has been very positive.
F: Was this a unanimous decision? Or did it take some compromise to get this up and running?
Mr. B: Well it took some work amongst the staff and some contractual things. However, because it was unanimous amongst the committee, which was representative of all grade levels and all content areas, it was unanimous by that group which is why we were able to put it without having a lot of hiccups with it.
F: After homeroom being in effect for some time, do you think it was a good choice so far?
Mr. B: Well I think we have a small sample size, right? So we’re just finishing up our first term, I think that as we move forward there’s going to be a little bit more of an advisory piece to it, that’s going to be added in. So during certain cycles we’ll offer certain opportunities to have discussions and academic check-ins, things like that. I think that, you know, doing it for a year or two will give us a real good view of where it’s at. Does it increase our achievement? Does it help our attendance? Does it help tardiness? Those things, but right now it’s been a positive yield thus far.
F: To follow up did you have a lot of teacher input on how they feel about homeroom?
Mr. B: So far it’s been pretty positive, again I think that there’s a desire to have some more advisory pieces to that, which I think we should do, and will do, but again it’s something that’s brand new, it’s going to take some time to work out the different kinks in the system. But I think it’s a good opportunity and I’m excited to see what it brings moving forward.
"Homeroom so far isn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, I wasn’t really excited for it because I thought it would be a waste of time and I thought I wouldn’t be able to see my friends as much, but I actually don’t mind it."
After hearing the thoughts of the Principal, the kids of Mashpee gave their own opinion of homeroom. To keep things unbiased, a few kids with various homerooms gave input. First is Julie Cambra, a tenth grader who has homeroom with Mr. Hoppensteadt. Here’s what she thinks:
The Falconer: How do you feel about homeroom so far? Do you think you’ll feel the same at the end of senior year?
Julie: I love homeroom, homeroom is my favorite time of the day and I love the fish, I love Mr. Hoppensteadt, and I love Mrs. Soares. I think homeroom is a great place where if you [forget] you can do your homework. For senior year I think I’ll still love it because I love Mr. Hoppensteadt, the fish, and I can’t wait to see how the classroom changes!
Someone from a younger grade also agreed to be interviewed: Celeste Bold, an eighth grader who has Ms. Menard for homeroom. To keep opinions organized, the same question will be asked throughout.
The Falconer: How do you feel about homeroom so far? Do you think you’ll feel the same at the end of senior year?
Celeste: Homeroom so far isn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, I wasn’t really excited for it because I thought it would be a waste of time and I thought I wouldn’t be able to see my friends as much, but I actually don’t mind it. I think it helps kids to get their work done if they weren’t able to finish it the night before. It gives them a good time to ask questions like if they’re not sure what day it is, or something like that. And I think it kind of depends, if I’ll think the same way during senior year, because I like the homeroom that I’m in, I like the kids in it, but I feel like [being in the same class will] get boring after awhile. That might change my opinion when I get to senior year, but I’m not entirely sure yet.
Lastly The Falconer hears from Aldona Casey, another tenth grader, who has Ms. Kallipolites for her homeroom class.
The Falconer: How do you feel about homeroom so far? Do you think you’ll feel the same at the end of senior year?
Aldona: I like homeroom because it gives me a chance to settle in before going straight into class. I remember last year I would’ve just rolled out of bed and gotten to school and would already be getting into curriculum, but now I have a time to like, I don’t know, finish up any homework that I forgot to do, or things like that. I love it. At the end of senior year I think I’ll feel the same way, the only thing I don't like is that we keep the [same] class we have like forever until senior year, even though I really like my class I feel like for some people if they're stuck in that class with a teacher they don’t particularly like or something, that's going to be bad for them.
Overall the opinion of homeroom is a positive one. Kids enjoy being able to settle in slowly and get last minute homework done. A common negative people have though, is the idea they will have the same homeroom for their whole middle-to-high school experience. Time will tell how thoughts on this new schedule will change, but for now it’s a seemingly good addition to the ever bustling Mashpee Middle-High School.
The Falconer: How do you feel about homeroom so far? Do you think you’ll feel the same at the end of senior year?
Julie: I love homeroom, homeroom is my favorite time of the day and I love the fish, I love Mr. Hoppensteadt, and I love Mrs. Soares. I think homeroom is a great place where if you [forget] you can do your homework. For senior year I think I’ll still love it because I love Mr. Hoppensteadt, the fish, and I can’t wait to see how the classroom changes!
Someone from a younger grade also agreed to be interviewed: Celeste Bold, an eighth grader who has Ms. Menard for homeroom. To keep opinions organized, the same question will be asked throughout.
The Falconer: How do you feel about homeroom so far? Do you think you’ll feel the same at the end of senior year?
Celeste: Homeroom so far isn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, I wasn’t really excited for it because I thought it would be a waste of time and I thought I wouldn’t be able to see my friends as much, but I actually don’t mind it. I think it helps kids to get their work done if they weren’t able to finish it the night before. It gives them a good time to ask questions like if they’re not sure what day it is, or something like that. And I think it kind of depends, if I’ll think the same way during senior year, because I like the homeroom that I’m in, I like the kids in it, but I feel like [being in the same class will] get boring after awhile. That might change my opinion when I get to senior year, but I’m not entirely sure yet.
Lastly The Falconer hears from Aldona Casey, another tenth grader, who has Ms. Kallipolites for her homeroom class.
The Falconer: How do you feel about homeroom so far? Do you think you’ll feel the same at the end of senior year?
Aldona: I like homeroom because it gives me a chance to settle in before going straight into class. I remember last year I would’ve just rolled out of bed and gotten to school and would already be getting into curriculum, but now I have a time to like, I don’t know, finish up any homework that I forgot to do, or things like that. I love it. At the end of senior year I think I’ll feel the same way, the only thing I don't like is that we keep the [same] class we have like forever until senior year, even though I really like my class I feel like for some people if they're stuck in that class with a teacher they don’t particularly like or something, that's going to be bad for them.
Overall the opinion of homeroom is a positive one. Kids enjoy being able to settle in slowly and get last minute homework done. A common negative people have though, is the idea they will have the same homeroom for their whole middle-to-high school experience. Time will tell how thoughts on this new schedule will change, but for now it’s a seemingly good addition to the ever bustling Mashpee Middle-High School.