The document discusses making changes to a middle school's master schedule to better meet the needs of students and teachers. It describes moving from a traditional 6 period day to a new 7 period schedule, increasing student choices in electives, providing more equitable teaching and planning time for all teachers, and better supporting the developmental needs of adolescents through transitions between grade levels. The new schedule allows for wider curricular exploration, more opportunities for teachers to collaborate, and smaller average class sizes.

1. NEW
Tripp Aldredge
Harris Road Middle School
Cabarrus County Schools
The Middle
School Model^

2. NEW
Tripp Aldredge
Harris Road Middle School
Cabarrus County Schools
The Middle
School Model^
Are you
meeting the
needs of your
students?

3. Is your school’s master schedule working for your
students and staff?
Do your students have a wide variety of curricular choice
(world languages, arts, career/technical education)?
Do your teachers of tested subjects (almost all teachers
now) have equitable teaching and planning time?
Are you preparing students for life and work in the 21st
century?
Does your curriculum infuse global education for our
shrinking world?
Do you maximize students’ exposure to your best
teachers?
How does your school transform adolescents from
elementary school to high school?

4. How much curricular choice do your students have?

5. Language Arts
Mathematics
Natural and Physical
Sciences
Social Science
Health and Physical
Education
World Languages
Music
Art
Careers
The Association of Middle Level
Education asserts that in order
to become a fully functioning,
self-actualized person, students
should understand and use the
major concepts, skills, and
tools of inquiry in the areas of:

6. Do your teachers of tested subjects have equitable teaching and planning time?

7. All teachers have a degree
and a license from NC DPI
Almost all teachers are
tested now:
(EOG, EOC, NCFE, ASW, MSL)
All teachers need time for
planning and collaboration
Shouldn’t all teachers have
an equal/reasonable number
of class preps?
Should certain groups of
teachers be burdened with
all of the non-teaching
duties?
Honor ALL Teachers
Level the Playing Field

10. Do your teachers have the opportunity to collaborate?
Are they working on the right work?

11. Make sure that your teachers
have a coherent, viable, and
guaranteed curriculum.
Make sure all your
ammunition is hitting the
target.
Make sure PLCs are working
on the work.
Focus on the
Curriculum

12. Become actively aware
of the larger world,
asking significant and
relevant questions.
Be a good steward of the
Earth and its resources
and a wise and
intelligent consumer of a
wide array of goods and
services available.
Respect and value the
diverse ways people
look, speak, think, and
act within the immediate
community and around
the world.
The Association of Middle
Level Education asserts
that in order to become a
fully functioning, self-
actualized person, each
young adolescent should:

13. Global
Education

14. Use digital tools to
explore, communicate,
and collaborate with the
world and learn from the
rich and varied
resources.
Be able to think
rationally and critically
and express thoughts
clearly.
Develop the
interpersonal and social
skills needed to learn,
work, and play with
others harmoniously and
confidently.
The Association of Middle
Level Education asserts
that in order to become a
fully functioning, self-
actualized person, each
young adolescent should:

15. 21st
Century
Skills

16. 21st
Century
Skills

17. 21st
Century
Skills

18. Young adolescents undergo
more rapid and profound
personal changes between
the ages of 10 and 15 than
at any other time in their
lives.
The several developmental
processes associated with
adolescence, while natural
and necessary, present
challenges to those
entrusted with the
responsibility for their
healthy development and
education.
YOUNG
ADOLESCENTS

19. Other Issues in Need of
Solutions:
Pushing over capacity – growth was out of control –
average class size was 32 (some classes as high as 36).
If we start moving to trailers, how do we keep teams?
Shrinking EC staffing – how do you serve students
throughout the building with just 4 EC teachers?
How do we not track students in eighth grade with
Math 1, Earth & Environmental Science, Advanced ELA?
Students do not have yearlong health/PE.
Arts teachers want to have ability-based grouping.

20. –Henry Ford
“If you always do what you
always did, you always get
what you always got.”
–Albert Einstein
–Tony Robbins
–My Grandaddy

21. Master
Scheduling
The Ultimate Balancing Act

22. Traditional 6 Period Middle
School Schedule
4 core classes (teams) – 60 minutes each
2 elective classes – 45 minutes each
Students move about the building in isolated grade
levels
Grade level bell schedules do not match-up
Core teachers teach 4 classes each day
Elective teachers teach 6 classes each day
New 7 Period Middle School
Schedule
4 core classes + Health/PE – 52 minutes each
2 elective classes – 52 minutes each
6th grade is still isolated (back-to-back) electives; 7th
and 8th grades may mix in electives (ability groups)
Bells align – helps EC teachers, allows mixed electives
ALL teachers teach 5 classes (w/2 planning periods)
Average class size went from 32 down to 27
Logistics

23. New 7 Period Middle School
Schedule
7 classes per day for students
Every student has health/PE everyday
Increased student choice/opportunities for
exploration
All electives are semester-long (except band, chorus,
Mandarin 1, Spanish 1) – up to 4 choices possible
Students can explore world languages, arts, and CTE
Arts students are grouped by ability in 7th-8th grades
Exploration

24. New 7 Period Middle School
Schedule
Teaming of students follows a developmental
transformation over time:
6th grade has traditional 4-man teams
7th grade has modified 3-man teams – math is
departmentalized
8th grade is departmentalized
Health/PE teachers are paired with each grade level
(health classrooms are on the hall)
Developmental

25. New 7 Period Middle School
Schedule
At least 104 minutes of planning time daily
6th grade has back-to-back planning periods
7th grade has 1 planning period by grade level and
the other period by team
8th grade has 1 planning period by grade level and
the other period by department
Weekly PLC and grade level meeting times are set for
the entire school (UbD, global ed, and P21 training)
Teachers

26. 1:1

27. What Is An
Opportunity
Culture?
Where Is This
Happening?
Opportunity Culture Impact
85
schools
designing or
implementing
in 2015–16
800+
teachers
with advanced roles
or on-the-job
development
in 2015–16
22K+
students
reached by
excellent teachers
in 2015–16
$2M
extra pay
for OC teachers
in 2015–16

28. Is your school’s master schedule working for your
students and staff?
Do your students have a wide variety of curricular choice
(world languages, arts, career/technical education)?
Do your teachers of tested subjects (almost all teachers
now) have equitable teaching and planning time?
Are you preparing students for life and work in the 21st
century?
Does your curriculum infuse global education for our
shrinking world?
Do you maximize students’ exposure to your best
teachers?
How does your school transform adolescents from
elementary school to high school?

29. Is your school’s master schedule working for your
students and staff?
Do your students have a wide variety of curricular choice
(world languages, arts, career/technical education)?
Do your teachers of tested subjects (almost all teachers
now) have equitable teaching and planning time?
Are you preparing students for life and work in the 21st
century?
Does your curriculum infuse global education for our
shrinking world?
Do you maximize students’ exposure to your best
teachers?
How does your school transform adolescents from
elementary school to high school?
Our school’s master schedule working for our students
and staff!
Our students have a wide variety of curricular choice
(world languages, arts, career/technical education)!
Our teachers have equitable teaching and planning
time!
We are preparing students for life and work in the 21st
century!
Our curriculum infuses global education for our
shrinking world!
We maximize students’ exposure to your best teachers!
Our school transitions adolescents with increasing
amounts of freedom in each grade level!

30. Thank-You for Attending!
Contact Info:
Tripp Aldredge
raymond.aldredge@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
(704) 796-3293
Harris Road Middle School
Cabarrus County Schools