Superintendent pauses schedule change following community feedback

After an outpouring of critical input from the students, families and alumni of Waltham High School on the proposed seven-period schedule, Superintendent Marisa Mendonsa has paused the schedule change process.

Mendonsa said that after reviewing feedback, including hundreds of emails from students and families, she concluded that the current eight-period schedule was better suited to Waltham High students. 

“This will provide a more robust and rigorous academic program, providing more time with teachers, while also providing a strong electives program for our students to explore their interests,” she said at the School Committee’s March 5 meeting. 

The decision came as a relief for the packed auditorium of students and families who had come to speak out against the proposed schedule change. 

The schedule came under scrutiny after performance reviews of WHS in comparison to two Waltham middle schools, Kennedy and McDevitt. WHS is in the ninth percentile for accountability, which is a metric for public school performance used by the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. There are only 30 high schools out of 360 in Massachusetts with an accountability rating under 10%. After data analyses, WPS officials concluded that a regression was occurring specifically at the high school level, because the district’s middle school accountability ratings are much higher. 

Mendonsa said the district had concerns about the high school schedule.

“The current high school schedule offers a significant reduction in the time and frequency of core subject learning,” she said of the differences between middle and high school schedules. 

Concerns about this reduction prompted a months-long review of the high school schedule, which resulted in the proposed seven-period schedule . School officials said the seven-period schedule would prioritize core subject instruction time over elective choices. 

Moving forward, Waltham High School will participate in the Accelerated Achievement Initiative run by DESE, which is prioritizing 292 of the 1,500 schools in the commonwealth. WHS was selected because it has both a low accountability rating and also has achieved “less-than-expected” progress toward achievement targets. 

The initiative will provide targeted support over multiple years to WHS and ensure that it meets district and state expectations.

As part of the initiative, district executives will attend a two-day retreat this spring as well as develop and submit a School Improvement Plan to DESE. 

Schedule change proposal due next year

Changes to the WHS schedule are still on the table, with the schedule committee now charged with creating a new proposed schedule for the School Committee review next school year. 

Residents who spoke during the public input section at Wednesday’s School Committee meeting asked for better communication and more transparency when the new schedule is brought to the feedback stage next year. 

Others questioned the decision to change the schedule at all. “As a result of [poor performance], WHS is under scrutiny by the state, accountable to them for making improvements. This seems reasonable. I wonder, is changing the schedule again just a quick fix to placate the state? This is absolutely two steps forward, three steps back,” said retired WPS teacher Linda Hanley.

Mendonsa emphasized that despite the pause, the schedule would be changing to accommodate longer class periods in pursuit of a project-based learning philosophy. “We cannot effectively implement project-based learning with shorter blocks of [class] time. I currently believe that PBL should be our north star, and the schedule will assist us in getting there.”