Middle School Parents/Guardians,
The District along with Maplewood Middle and South Orange Middle Schools’ are pleased to share an update to the middle school bell schedule that will be implemented for the 2021 -22 SY and beyond at both middle schools. Click the link to view the revised schedules:
- MMS Bell Schedule: https://www.somsd.k12.nj.us/maplewood/about/bell-schedule/
- SOMS Bell Schedule: https://www.somsd.k12.nj.us/south-orange/bell-schedule/
Years ago a change to the middle school schedules led to the loss of an extended afternoon conference time. This year during remote and hybrid learning, extended afternoon conference times were reinstated and allowed us to regain the following lost benefits.
- A set time of the day (within teachers contractual hours) for extended time on assessments for students with IEP’s, 504’s, and I&RS Action Plans implementation (which eliminates students having to miss classroom instruction);
- A time for pre-teaching and re-teaching for our students who may be struggling in an academic subject;
- More individual and small group instruction opportunities; and
- Additional time for community building, community connection, social-emotional learning and mental health support with counselors, social workers and interns.
- Time for pull-out music lessons without missing classroom instruction.
Some important details of the schedule change mean:
- Periods are 45 Minutes per period rather than the previous 50 minutes per period (except for 30 minutes lunch).
- The conference period is 29 minutes (Up from 9 minutes).
- The conference period is part of the school day and it is required time. If a child is scheduled for a conference time with a teacher, team leader, counselor, or faculty/staff member, they are required to attend. Students may leave at 2:45 if they do not have anywhere to be during the conference period. We ask that our families schedule afternoon family appointments and commitments for after 3:14 pm as they always have so that this important time is preserved for our students.
- For students who receive transportation, the bus will not depart until 3:14 pm.
Families, students and faculty members have reached out sharing their belief that this is valuable time and we are pleased that we are able to be responsive to our community and implement this revised schedule for the upcoming school year.
Enjoy your summer and we look forward to seeing our students in September.
Sincerely,
South Orange & Maplewood School District
Dara Gronau, Principal, Maplewood Middle School
Lynn Irby, Principal, South Orange Middle School