Saturday, May 17, 2025
Woodmere Middle School is planning to shift from its current eight-period schedule to a nine-period school day as the required hours of instruction were altered by the State Education Department.
The original five hours a day for grades 1 through 6, and five and a half hours per day for grades 7 through 12, was changed to 900 hours per year for grades K through 6, and 990 hours for grades 7 through 12.
Middle School Principal John Andruszkiewicz, Assistant Principal Richard Mangeri and Assistant Superintendent Dina Anzalone presented the proposed schedule change at the Board of Education’s monthly work meeting on April 9.
Andruszkiewicz said that he received a lot of help and feedback to try and create the best possible schedule for the students.
“It was an all-encompassing process,” Andruszkiewicz said. “It was a labor of love from everybody here. The Board of Education, central office staff, building administration, and district and building wide chairs, teachers, staff, faculty, our Nine Period Day committee, parents and guardians who filled out the survey, and of course the kids, we got a lot of feedback from our students as well.”
The presentation broke down sample schedules for each grade, as well as possible schedules for discovery and advanced placement students who might take earth science, algebra, or classes at the high school.
Under the new plan, the school day will start earlier, with homeroom and first period beginning at 8:38 a.m., a shift from the current start time of 9:21 a.m. School would then end at 3:07 p.m., slightly earlier than the current 3:10 p.m. dismissal.
Services for students with disabilities and English language learners remain the same. Double accelerated eighth grade students would begin their day at Hewlett High, and be bused to the middle school to begin second period, and dedicated time for instruction for social and emotional learning taught by the middle school guidance counselors will begin in a designated period.
Board Vice President Cheryl May a committee member that helped create the new schedule, asked if the board could reconsider having guidance counselors teach social and emotional learning, because of their already strenuous workload.
“Can we reconsider having the guidance counselors teach that,” May said. “Middle school is such a precarious age. We all have had kids in that building or have kids in that building right now, and those guidance counselors are working double triple overtime already with those kids.”
Andruszkiewicz acknowledged the concern and said the plan remains flexible. He added that introducing students to counselors in a classroom setting might help them build stronger relationships.
Students will still have access to extra help on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays before the first bell, as well as breakfast every morning from 8:10 to 8:35 a.m. Every period will remain 40 minutes, with a three-minute passing time in between classes.
Board President Debra Sheinin said that she believed that this new nine period schedule had both education and budgetary benefits.
“I wanted to thank everyone involved who participated in creating this presentation, when everyone has a stake in something like this, it’s when we get our best outcomes,” she said. “From a budgetary standpoint, maximizing staff is great, and from an educational standpoint, it does seem like our kids are going to get the best experiences.
Have an opinion about the plan for a nine period day? Send letters to mberman@liherald.com.
