New course to give struggling students a hand
Struggling students at Thurston Middle School will have a new way to try to boost their grades and gain valuable life skills beginning in the fall.
The Laguna Beach Unified School District board on Tuesday unanimously approved a yearlong elective course that will provide targeted instruction for students in math and English while helping them develop effective study and time-management skills.
The course, called Core Academy, will be offered to students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades for one period each day.
Students will be assigned to one of five teachers — Kelly Skon (math), Katie Meyers (math), Sarah Schaeffer (English), Leah Prettyman (English) and Randi Beckley (English) — and report to their classrooms Mondays and Tuesdays.
On those days, students will learn about goal setting, note taking, college and career planning, and financial and digital literacy, according to a course description. Thurston Principal Jenny Salberg asked all five teachers to participate, and they agreed to take on the task.
On Wednesdays, students will meet with their assigned teacher to discuss progress and then work on individual trouble areas, such as fractions or sentence structure, possibly with another instructor.
On Thursdays, students can choose which class they feel they need the most help in, Prettyman wrote in an email.
Teachers, Salberg and counselors will work together to identify students whose grades might be slipping and try to intervene.
A letter will go home to the parents suggesting their child take Core Academy. Parents may opt out.
Salberg likened the course to teaching students “how to fish” instead of just solving a specific problem and moving on.
Prettyman said she hopes students learn motivation and resilience by taking the course.
Students must log every homework assignment and meet with a parent at the end of the year to review all coursework.
The program is projected to cost the district $27,150 to cover supplies, field trips, guest speakers and technological equipment for an expected 125 students, according to a district staff report.
“Middle school is a critical time to catch them,” Meyers said. “We’re going to try to go to a four-year university so they can see that and understand what the end result is.”