ADMINISTRATION BUILDING
835 OLD CLAIRTON ROAD
JEFFERSON HILLS, PA 15025
PHONE 412.655.8450
FAX 412.655.9544
www.wjhsd.net
Dr. Michael Ghilani
West Jefferson Hills
School District Superintendent
“Re-Imagining High School”
W
hen the “new” Thomas Jefferson High School
opens in August of 2019, the building structure,
with the many amenities it provides, won’t be
the only change for our high school students.
The greatest transformation may be what is occurring within
the walls of the building and classrooms starting this fall. Even
though there has been a tremendous amount of research about
how kids learned in the past century, very little has changed
about the structure of public schools since Horace Mann
opened the first “common schools” in the early 1800s. For the
most part, the school year is still 180 days, classes still meet in
40-50 minute blocks of time called periods, and kids are still
taught in a model that was developed for basic memorization
instead of complex problem solving and critical thinking. Time
has remained the constant, and learning has been the variable.
Yet, we all know that every student learns at a different rate and
in a different way. What teacher or student hasn’t said, “If only
I had a little more time” with regard to teaching and learning?
As we planned to open the new high school, we asked the
question, “How can we open a state-of-the-art building that
will prove to be one of the nicest around, yet do the very same
things that we have done since we developed an educational
system around the agrarian calendar?” We decided that we had
to think differently, and we have to shape a system and practices
around how we know students learn that focuses on mastery
and application, rather than memorization. A committee was
formed and has worked on this project for almost two years to
re-imagine the high school experience.
The final product is a revised schedule, increased rigor,
curriculum changes, flexible spaces and seating, additional
courses, 1:1 learning environment, and learning opportunities
that reach beyond the walls of the new building. The most
significant change is the use of time within the schedule
through the creation of a 90-minute block known as PLT
(personalized learning time.) While this 90-minute block of time
isn’t the panacea to changing the educational model entirely, it’s
certainly a start. In a traditional schedule, nothing ever seems
to fit, so valuable instructional time is lost on things such as
pep rallies, scheduling, meeting with counselors, and various
other student activities. We also assume that every subject can
be taught in the same block of time, even though we know this
isn’t true or ideal for learning. So we choose to pile work on
students that must be done outside of school, even though we
know that a lot of them are involved in extracurricular activities
or have jobs. And the work we give them is the same regardless
of a student’s previous knowledge or rate of learning; this is like
40 WEST JEFFERSON HILLS
a doctor prescribing an antibiotic to every patient regardless
of their symptoms. PLT enables the paradigm to shift and
recognize learner variability and the importance of concept
mastery, real-world application, and skill retention through a
truly personalized learning experience.
So what happens in this 90-minute block of time? The block is
flexible and fluid on a daily basis. Thanks to a software platform
known as flex-time scheduler, every teacher and student will be
rescheduled every day based on student needs and interests.
The most important focus of PLT is learning. Teachers are
expected to schedule students who are struggling for extra
instruction during this time as a first level in the scheduling
process. Once struggling students are scheduled, all other
students and teachers get to make choices. From AP test
preparation to yoga to club meetings, teachers and students
may offer and take just about anything that you can imagine.
Opportunities to gain valuable experience and learn certain
skills that one can’t fit into their schedule may be pursued
during this time. Career and college planning, college meetings,
career presentations, counseling, and club meetings can
now occur without having to sacrifice valuable learning time.
The instructional schedule now becomes sacred, but allows
extended learning opportunities in every class for enrichment or
remediation through PLT. We are even exploring opportunities
with outside organizations such as Driver’s Education, SAT prep,
JROTC, Arizona State University, and the CCAC Aviation Program
during this time. Of course, every student will need to schedule
a 30-minute lunch during this time, but when will also be their
choice. By having to make these daily choices, students will
develop the ability to make critical decisions and build their
independence for when they enter the world of work or go onto
higher education. It should also make our environment more
inclusive and cohesive because students and teachers will get
to develop positive relationships through interests instead of
just their classes or group of friends. Things like art, music, yoga,
and gaming often break the barriers of social groups and level
the playing field when all students have the opportunity to
experience them.
While PLT may originally be hard to comprehend and seems
complex, it changes time from a constant to a variable. It’s a
positive step in changing what educational systems should look
like in transforming instruction and learning from a “one-size-
fits-all” mentality to one that recognizes learner variability and
the needs and interests of students. The end result is students
who are better prepared to tackle the many challenges and
opportunities that await them upon graduation.