While it’s not a panacea, adding a zero period to the beginning
of the day at Gilroy High School should go a long way toward
improving the academic performance of students engaged in
extra-curricular activities after school and, in particular,
athletics.
While it’s not a panacea, adding a zero period to the beginning of the day at Gilroy High School should go a long way toward improving the academic performance of students engaged in extra-curricular activities after school and, in particular, athletics.
Plus, it would have the added benefit of making life for teachers less hectic because class absenteeism, make-up tests and late assignments could be significantly reduced.
Currently, student athletes frequently miss classes late in the day so that they can participate in events. It adds up. Often core academic classes are missed.
“If you miss a day, you miss a concept,” GHS senior Kenny Kretz, a member of the GHS coed varsity badminton team, told reporter Christopher Quirk. He will miss his AP Economics course at least 10 times this year to participate in matches.
With a zero-period system, an optional period is added to the schedule before the start of the regular, non-optional school day. Student athletes could schedule an academic class during zero period, allowing them to schedule an elective or physical education class late in the day.
That’s not the only advantage to a zero-period schedule.
Students taking heavy academic loads or those who are devoted to one specific elective – for example, band or a foreign language – now have room in their schedules to take additional electives.
It’s not a perfect solution. It will cost more money in a school district already tight on funds. Adding 25 classes that attract a quarter of the school’s population would cost approximately $200,000 a year.
And, according to Gilroy Teachers Association President Michelle Nelson, it poses a particular challenge for Gilroy Unified.
“We have had trouble attracting and retaining teachers in Gilroy,” she said. “Adding another period may exacerbate the problem we have now.”
That seems to contrast with the positive response GUSD recruiters have been getting at recent job fairs. And there are likely some teachers who would appreciate the opportunity to teach early classes.
The zero period will add another layer of complexity to scheduling classes for GHS administrators.
But finding the money and demonstrating a will to overcome these difficulties is a worthy pursuit.
GUSD Trustee Rhoda Bress was exactly right when she said, “The value that we as a community put on classroom reflects on our values.”
Our community is concerned about academic achievement and this could be a piece to the solution. Finding a way to get it done will be a challenge, but it’s worth a try.
