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f ox c hapel a r ea s chool d is tr ict | s tat e of t he s chools
New DMS
Schedule
Developed
Starting in the 2019-2020 school year, DMS
students are spending more instructional
time in the core subject areas.
According to Dorseyville Middle School
Principal Jonathan Nauhaus, the middle
school schedule had not changed in many
years, and an upgrade was necessary to give
students the best education possible.
“The change was im-
perative for several reasons,
including increased rigor
in the Pennsylvania Core
Standards and students
needing more experience
with skills such as collabora-
tion, problem-solving, and
creative thinking,” he said.
“But we knew that it was
important for students to
continue to be exposed to
the arts and other elective
offerings.”
The process of changing the schedule
involved parents, administrators,
and teachers. Planning included a
survey, as well as the development of
model schedules. The district also held
public meetings about the schedule
throughout the process to keep
everyone informed. The final schedule
was the consensus of all stakeholder
groups.
Several priorities were set for the de-
velopment of the new schedule. It was understood that the program
must be unique to the needs of the middle school learner and the
middle school philosophy, including built-in academic and emotional
supports, an increase in class time for core subjects, and maintain-
ing strong connections between students and staff. Additionally, the
schedule needed to preserve a wide exposure to the arts and also
offer other experiences to help students develop additional academic
interests.
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FOX CHAPEL AREA
The schedule runs on a quarterly six-day
cycle and includes a 34-minute morning
homebase and 60 minutes each for the
core classes of English language arts/
literacy, math, science, and social stud-
ies. It also includes time for physical education, music, world
languages, art, technology education, computer science, health,
and family and consumer sciences. Eighth-graders also have the
opportunity to further study electives, and classes were added in
computer science and music. Additionally, the schedule allows for
later lunch periods, the study of four languages (Spanish, French,
German, and Latin) in sixth grade, and a Level I world language
option in grade seven.