9th hour offers freshmen support
New intervention program for freshmen
Teacher Cody Hatzer helping freshman Luciano Spaulding with math.
December 12, 2019
Coming into high school can be tough, but Freshman 9th Hour is an intervention program added this year that helps freshmen have an easier transition from middle school to high school. After school on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the LRC for one hour, students can get help, meet with teachers or tutors, do test corrections or retakes, or get their assignments done in an environment that’s not distracting.
“We found that the transition from middle school to high school is overwhelming in a lot of ways for freshmen, and it always has been, but we decided there was something we can do by offering tutoring after school specifically for freshmen,” said Ellie Ryan, a freshman English teacher who helps out during Freshman 9th Hour.
Last year, the after school study hall was piloted by Academic Intervention Coordinator Kevin Farrell and numeracy interventionist Stacy Custodio. They provided help for students who needed literacy and numeracy support. It was later developed into the program that it is now and extended to all freshmen. Freshmen can have support from upperclassmen tutors, freshmen English teachers and algebra or geometry teachers on Tuesdays, and biology and world history teachers on Thursdays.
The pace of learning in high school is something that freshmen are not used to. A fifty minute class period on a regular school day seems like a lot, but sometimes can be so quick that students cannot grasp enough of what they were taught in class. So the after school study hall is a time where students can ask questions that would help them understand the material.
“For me, there’s teachers here that I don’t have but can help you with your work. They have a different view than [my] teachers,” said freshman Sienna Della-Peruta, who attends Freshman 9th Hour.
Algebra teacher Cody Hatzer, who also helps students with math during Freshman 9th Hour, says that “it gives [students] another support and… another check in… as you move up into high school that is taken away gradually. So [Freshman 9th Hour is given] until everybody’s independent and on their own.”
Freshman 9th hour wasn’t always in the LRC. It first started in the AIM center (room 1575), but with the amount of freshmen coming in, they had to move it for more room.
“The fact that there are around thirty kids at 9th Hour most days helps students see that they aren’t alone in needing help. Sometimes students struggle in a class and feel like they’re the only one that struggles. 9th Hour is proof that you’re not the only one who has questions and that you’re not the only one trying to do better in class,” said Farrell.
