THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, August 27, 1995                TAG: 9508260111
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN              PAGE: 04   EDITION: FINAL 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   44 lines

SUFFOLK SCHOOL BOARD GOALS

The Suffolk School Board set eight goals specifically for the 1995-96 year. Here's an abbreviated look at what the board plans to accomplish.

1. Set up ``block scheduling'' at Lakeland and Nansemond River high schools.

Both schools will experiment with ``block scheduling'' to provide more time for creative projects and in-depth lessons that are hard to cram into the traditional class period of about 47 minutes.

Public schools increasingly have turned to block scheduling - which basically doubles the consecutive time spent in some classes - as a way to stretch classes' potential.

2. Establish a Minority Achievement Advisory Committee and act on recommendations from a previous task force on minority student achievement.

That task force released a five-page report in June, urging the board to take a variety of steps to boost lagging academic performance among many of the city's minority students. The recommendations cover broad areas - such as teachers' expectations, parental involvement and teaching techniques.

3. Develop a comprehensive plan for evaluating all professional employees.

4. Set up the Early Start preschool program.

5. Develop a capital-improvement program, based on enrollment projections.

6. Develop a five-year technology plan.

7. Develop a model for an alternative-education program.

In recent years, some school activists have called for the creation of Suffolk's own alternative school for students with serious academic or behavioral problems. The district now provides an alternative program for troubled students at night; the Education for Success Program, for students who have flunked repeatedly; and a host of vocational courses for students turned off by traditional classroom offerings.

8. Implement the state's new math, science, social studies and English standards for what students should know. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Arthur D. Smith...

by CNB