Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Pathways Sub-Committee
Meeting Notes

We began our discussion by resolving whether the Pathways option would be for select
students or mandated to all: it would be for all incoming freshman with the option to
change their pathway throughout their high school career.

We then discussed some local schools that currently run specific pathways and related
those schools to Dumont.

We questioned the available options for students to obtain high school credits (Bergen
Community College, within and outside of school offered extra curricula such as dance,
football, etc. replacing partial gym credits to offer more physical education electives
thereby avoiding any possible loss of jobs but perhaps creating smaller classes focused in
certain areas of interest for both the physical education teacher and students).

We questioned what College/High School dual credit electives would be available to

supplement pathways with little to no available electives such as science and math.

There is a consensus among the group that there is a need for more electives to support
the Pathways structure, some examples for science were half-year courses in geology,
forensic science, astronomy, etc.

We agreed that all freshman students should begin their Pathways courses with
generalized courses that are required for all Pathways so that if any student decides to
switch, they have still met graduation requirements.

We looked into adding more specific Pathway options but decided to keep them broad
and allow the electives chosen to make them more specific to certain interests.

As a group, we decided there was a missing pathway: something political/social studies

oriented and suggested the renaming of the Business and Industry to Business, Industry
and International Studies or Political Studies or something that would suggest the
multiple options to a student in this pathway. With this said, it was agreed that more
electives for this type of student would be required. We collectively feel that the group
would greatly benefit if an additional member were added to the subcommittee who was
a part of the Social Studies department.

For the Pathways to be effective, there needs to be a school-wide lift in standards.

Teachers need to be on the same page regarding these standards.

Questions the committee has:

How are students choosing the pathway? (7th and 8th grade students/parents/guidance)
Could we get rid of the open campus for all periods except lunch in an attempt to increase
elective enrollment and to offer mandated study halls for homework, extra help, etc.?
What are we looking at regarding rotating schedules/block schedules, will it be changing
and if so how?
How does adding more electives and study halls affect teachers, jobs, budget, and more?
Do we have enough rooms, teachers, and money to offer more electives and study halls?

We concluded the meeting by breaking into subgroups and splitting up the pathways with
the goal of designing a program/pathway of study for our specialties based on the
provided templates and input from our own departments.